Want to kick off the new year in style? Well we've got just the thing! Read on and you could win a specky new treat for your feet.

We all know that Macbeth make rad shoes. For starters, they were co-founded by Tom DeLonge, of Blink 182 fame. Not to mention they've got musicians like Mike Dirnt of Green Day designing moshpit stompers for them. And last but definitely not least, most of their shoes are leather free. So you can strut in style whilst leaving the cows to be cows.

We were chuffed to learn recently that one of our fave people, Aussie guitar maestro Jona Weinhofen from Bring Me the Horizon (+ ex-Bleeding Through, + ex-I Killed the Prom Queen) has got on board with Macbeth to promote their vegan range.

So to celebrate all things stylish, cruelty-free and that rock your socks off, we've got 2 pairs of Wallister Macbeths to give away! Just check out our exclusive interview with Jona (from back in his Bleeding Through days), and then to enter leave a comment to tell us how you plan to step up and make a difference in 2011 (winners will be announced in mid January).

I know I'm not alone when I say that in my swimmers I sometimes feel ... well, porky! But I know I'll never look this porky in the ocean! We've discovered a whole family of pretty porkers on Big Major Spot Island who can put all my fears to rest.

These cute little pigs have nothing to do all day but sun themselves on the sand and swim in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas. Nice work if you can get it! Have you ever seen more contented babes in your life?

Aside from doing wonders for my body image, these piggies lift my spirits because I know that these swimming swines will never have to endure the torture that millions of pigs on the other side of the world have to put up with in factory farms across Australia.

Piglets born in factory farms have their tails cut off through the bone without pain relief. They are then taken away from their mums and fattened up in crowded pens, only to be slaughtered -- but not before being gassed or electrically stunned first.

Are you stunned yet? I am, because it gets worse.

Mother pigs can spend their whole pregnancy in tiny metal crates, which are too small for them to even turn around in. Did you know that pigs are as smart as a three-year-old child? Imagine locking a toddler in a bathtub for 4 months! If only animals were given a choice...

It should be plainly obvious to anyone lucky enough to swim among these precious pigs in the Bahamas that pigs would rather be our friends than food. But you don't need to leave town to be an angel to pigs -- YOU can help make their dream come true by taking the pledge to be veg!

Ah, I'm dreaming of the day people and piggies all over the world can swim happily together ... and not look too porky in the process!! Now with the weather warming up, don't you feel like taking a dip now?

(Special thanks to Julie Edwards and Travis Rowan for the use of their beautiful photographs)

If you thought last week was full of good news for animals, that was just the beginning ... the good news has just kept coming this week!

Yesterday Australian Pork Limited announced that they were "pursuing a voluntary phase out" of sow stalls by 2017. Now we all know that 2017 really isn't soon enough - I mean Coles has committed to doing the same by 2014 - but this still marks a major victory and means ultimately millions of mother pigs will be spared a miserable life of solitary confinement.

But wait, there's more! This morning Coles added another to their recent streak of animal welfare improvements. They've announced they will be completely ditching their own brand of cage eggs by 2013. I don't think I need to tell you that this is good news for those who care about animals and bad news for animal abusers.

I'm gonna say it... this is the beginning of the end for factory farming! Supermarkets and industry (or at least the pig industry) are seeing the writing on the wall. Factory farming's days are numbered. Really, once the public realises that piglets have their tails cut off without pain relief, or that chickens raised for meat are crammed into sheds by the thousands only to marinate in their own waste for 42 days before slaughter, will they want to support those practices? I think not!

At this rate we'll be out of a job in no time (ok maybe that's wishful thinking). But really, if you want to help put us out of a job and give animals the ultimate protection they deserve then the answer's simple - don't eat 'em.

Tell me, what factory farming practice would you like to see put into the history books next?

This has been an AWESOME week for animal victories! And what makes these wins that much sweeter is that they wouldn't have happened without us! That is Unleashed members like YOU!

First we found out that the brutal plan to trap, transport and slaughter Tasmanian possums at a notoriously cruel abattoir has been rejected by the federal Environment Minister. Tony Burke couldn't ignore over 500 emails from us outlining that there would be no way to carry that out humanely. Now no possum has to face the shear terror of a slaughterhouse for the export market!

Next up, Coles announced that they will phase out any products from piggeries using sow stalls from their own range of pork, ham and bacon (side-note -- yuck!). This means that by 2014, Coles won't be supporting any pig farmer who, cruelly yet legally, confines mother pigs in cages barely bigger than their bodies while they are pregnant. Less pigs trapped in sow stalls means more pigs with space to do simple things like turn around. There's still a long way to go before Coles can call themselves cruelty-free, but these changes are coming about through pressure from consumers (and of course from gorgeous Lucy Pig!).

And finally, last night the Ku-Ring-Gai Council voted 7-3 to ban cruel exotic animal circuses! This ban was actually already in place until the circus industry applied enough pressure for the council to backflip in August and overturn the ban. This outraged the public, but one thing Unleashed members know how to do is make their voices heard. Thousands of signatures on the Animals Australia online petition -- or as I like to call it -- the deafening roar, convinced councillors that lions (and tigers, and monkeys...) don't belong in the circus!

I just have to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all of the incredible Unleashed members that have played a massive part in improving the lives of these beautiful, innocent animals.

We are their voice -- this shows how powerful we are when we speak up!

WOW! I just saw the video for P!nk's latest (sure to be) hit! And it's made me love her even more :) Never one to shy away from controversy she has hit the nail on the head with this film clip, tackling topics that really tick her off! (And me! And you!)

It starts with P!nk giving a bull fighter a taste of his own medicine, with a magnificent bull watching on. Good thing places like Catalonia in Spain are waking up to the disgusting cruelty of this 'tradition'.

But the scene that's going to expose a few home truths to millions of pop fans watching this video might seem a little absurd at first...

But it really does outline the crazy hypocrisy of a society that thinks it's ok to drink milk that cows are producing for their own babies. While P!nk lovingly bottle-feeds a beautiful newborn calf litres and litres of milk, we then see what the milking machine is hooked up to:

If you think that's strange, don't you also think how weird it is that humans drink the milk of another species? (Gross!) And in doing so, support an industry that considers newborn calves as 'waste products'; tearing one million innocent babies away from their grieving mothers to be slaughtered. I know I think that's strange, and unjustifiably cruel!

Unjustified because, like P!nk, soy milk rocks! And almond milk, rice milk, oat milk and all the other cruelty-free dairy alternatives on the supermarket shelves. Why would anyone even want cow's milk?

A friend of mine recently said "Milk is stealing from babies." So true! And nice of P!nk to give a little of it back!

Join me in raising your glass to P!nk! What's in your glass right now?

In so many ways, the animals have it worked out. Whilst we humans appear to have mastered technology, no matter how hard we try, we'll simply never be able to run faster, travel further, or hide better than nature's own team of superpowered critters. But all's not lost. I like to think there are some things that we can still learn from our furry friends.

Like ... how to get along... :-)

Happy Friday!!

It's silly hat season again, with the Melbourne Cup set to take place tomorrow. I still find it hard to believe that the whole nation stops to watch horses being whipped so that they'll run as fast as they can in circles!

To show that not everyone thinks horse racing is something to celebrate (because it sure isn't if you're a horse), this is what I'll be posting to facebook tomorrow (Feel free to do the same!):

If people really want to lose their money and wake up with a hangover the least they could do is leave the horses out of it! I could rant all day about how cruel (and dull) horse racing is, but the satirical news site The Onion has already done a hilarious job of highlighting one of the many problems with the industry:

While I'm on the topic of funny videos and problems with horse racing, I've got one more thing to say. The sooner the horse racing industry gets rid of jumps racing and replaces it with this the better!

Right, you've heard what I think of Melbourne Cup. Now, what about you? Leave a comment.