I am fed up with companies needlessly hurting animals for cosmetics and toiletries. Enough is enough. So, I wrote to Unilever and told them why I no longer use their products:

Dear Unilever,

When I think about my childhood, something very strange happens. When I remember my 12th birthday sleepover party, a sweet vanilla scent fills my nostrils. When I think about Friday afternoon P.E. class, the distinct smells of musk and raspberry come flooding back. And when I had my first date, I felt like a Goddess, and smelled like one too.

That’s right, I was an Impulse kid. Your body sprays were so popular when I was growing up that they operated as status symbols, with the person owning the largest collection of fragrances sitting at the top of the popularity ladder.

I am writing to you today having out-grown my rollerblades with the purple shoelaces but having grown into a sense of compassion and ethics as a consumer. Even though I still want to smell like a Spice Girl as much as I ever did, I will not be buying any products made by your company. This is for one reason: your company funds animal testing.

Testing cosmetics and toiletries on animals is banned here in Australia. Don’t you think that’s probably because Australians care about the welfare of animals and realise these tests are cruel and unnecessary? And yet you choose to test your products on animals overseas. When I learned that companies such as yours STILL test on animals, I was floored. Why?

The majority of commonly used ingredients have been safety tested YEARS ago. Not to mention that even brand new ingredients can’t be guaranteed to be safe for human safety when they are tested on animals. And yet product testing still blinds, burns, poisons and kills millions of rabbits, dogs and other animals every year.

"Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals and the answer is: 'Because animals are like us."

"Ask the experimenters why it is morally okay to experiment on animals, and the answer is: 'Because the animals are not like us."

"Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction."

--Prof. Charles R. Magel

Now that I'm a little older and wiser, I choose to put my pocket money towards products that use alternatives to animal testing rather than needlessly harming animals. I have found that it is very much possible to smell like a goddess without contributing to animal cruelty and I intend to keep doing so.

I hope that one day you will change your policy on animal testing and join me in the greener pastures where rabbits do not have chemicals rubbed in their eyes and dogs are free from being burned and poisoned.

No longer yours, sincerely,

Amy

Is there a product you used to love but have made the switch to a cruelty-free alternative? Why not drop the company a line and tell them why you no longer use their products? Click here to take action against animal testing.

If you were a bird, even just for a day ... it sounds like the beginning of a Beyoncé song but it is actually the thought behind Brett Frawley and Grace Keyworth’s short doco, which made it to the finals of ABC’s Mini Shot competition:

It is easy for everyone to see that flying would be the bees knees, (with pooping whilst flying coming a close second). We even use the bird as a symbol of freedom. And peace. And love. And yet so many of them are put in tiny cages.

Wouldn't you agree, there's a tragedy in that?

In the wild, most birds are flock animals. They fly together, groom each other, play and share parenting duties. Many species even mate for life. And a long life it can be, with parrots living anywhere up to 100 years. 100 years! I wonder if parrots get a letter from the Bird Queen on their 100th birthday...

When you consider the fact many birds fly countless kilometres a day and spend hours foraging for food, it is hard to imagine how those living in small cages could ever have the same quality of life.

Of course, many people with birds will do everything they can to give them a good life. But sadly, for many birds in captivity, loneliness, boredom and stress can drive them to repetitive behaviour (like swaying from side to side), picking out all of their feathers and aggression. I'm sure I'd get pretty frustrated too if I had wings, but couldn’t use them.

What would you do if you were a bird for a day?

I've got to be honest with you, most of the time I find politics kind of a snore. Words like chambers and constituencies make my brain go into Homer Simpson mode. (Although, if you say 'caucus' ten times over it’s bound to make you giggle).

However, my ears pricked up at some political news I heard today. The Coalition leaders want to apologise to Indonesia, on behalf of the Australian people, for the temporary suspension of live exports in 2011. Excuse me? I'm an Australian person. Don’t be apologising on behalf of me, thank you very much.

There were very good reasons for stopping the export of cattle to Indonesia. First up, animals were being abused and brutally killed.

Secondly, the Australian people called for a ban. After Four Corners exposed the shocking cruelty to cattle in Indonesia, people rallied across the country and politicians' inboxes were flooded with emails from people calling for an end to live export.

The Coalition leaders appear to have forgotten this. (Which is why I think the world should be run by elephants. Elephants never forget.) Tony Abbott, Julie Bishop and Warren Truss -- three big-wigs in the Federal Coalition -- have all expressed the 'need' to apologise to Indonesia.

Hold up, 4 out of 5 Australians support the campaign to end live export altogether. So how the Coalition government imagines that this apology is representative of the Australian people is beyond me. They would effectively be apologising for trying to end some of the worst animal cruelty ever documented in the live trade. And we should NOT be apologising for trying to prevent animal abuse.

In my opinion there is someone else they should be apologising to: the millions of Australian animals who have, and continue to, suffer in the live export trade. Despite 'safeguards' introduced by the Australian government, since 2011, cruelty to exported animals has continued to be exposed -- in Indonesia (again), Kuwait, Qatar, Pakistan, Israel, Mauritius, Egypt and Malaysia.

I think our pollies need a reminder that Australians care about the treatment of our animals and we should not be apologising for trying to protect them from cruelty. Click here to send a message to the leaders of the Coalition that they won't be representing you if they apologise to Indonesia.

Number of rare 'protected' ducks who were found dead by rescuers during this year's shooting season: 456

Number of shooters who were prosecuted for illegally killing 'protected' ducks this year: 0

Duck hunting season came to an end last week (10 June) and once again I am feeling bewildered as to how this cruel "sport" is still permitted in certain states in Australia. I'm also a little confused about what the word 'protected' means. I'd have thought it meant not being killed or wounded for no reason. But over the three month shooting season in Victoria, the Coalition Against Duck Shooting pulled a total of 456 'protected' duck species out of the water, dead, with many more wounded. However, to date, not a single shooter has been prosecuted for illegally shooting a 'protected' species.

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Among the slaughtered birds rescuers found were 110 rare and threatened Freckled Ducks.

Hundreds of 'protected' eurasion coots were killed in this year's season. Coots are poor fliers. When fired at they can scarcely get away.

This Black Fronted Dotterel was struck by a shotgun pellet and died. Shotguns fire a spray of pellets, which also puts at risk non-target animals.

An estimated one in every four birds shot is left behind injured, to suffer and often die from their injuries. This black swan was one of those unfortunate birds.

Despite bans in some states, Victoria, Tasmania and SA still allow a duck shooting season.

The Coalition Against Duck Shooting have been calling on the Victorian government to take responsibility for animal cruelty caused by recreational shooting.

Rescuers found 456 'protected' birds shot in just a few locations throughout this year's duck hunting season.

Thank goodness duck hunting season is over for another year. The problem is though, that there never should have been a shooting season to begin with. Can you believe that duck hunting is still legal in some Australian states? It's 2013! When I was in primary school we had to imagine what it would be like in the year 2013. I probably said something like we will all be riding hover-boards and playing with our robots. I never would've thought that we would still be living in a society where some states say it's ok to kill animals for fun.

It's time that the governments of Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia got with the times and banned duck shooting. Western Australia banned recreational shooting way back in 1990. New South Wales followed in 1995 and Queensland in 2005. How is it that the other states have failed to realise that duck hunting is cruel and needs to be stopped?

Your voice is needed to speak up for these ducks. Take a moment to send a message to the decision makers in Victoria, SA and Tassie, calling on them to ban duck hunting.

What do Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School kids talk about when they hang out? Which of the Voice contestants is their favourite, how annoying little brothers are, how to bring down factory farming, .... wait, WHA???

Six students from Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School have decided that they aren't going to stand for factory farming anymore. So they're taking it to the government. "The current treatment of animals in factory farming is an injustice and unacceptable," says team leader Gloria Deng. She and her five team mates will debate for 'The Abolishment of Factory Farming' at the 27th Annual Victorian Youth Parliament this July. "We are fighting to ensure that no animal experiences the inhumane practices of factory farming."

Factory farming is one of the biggest causes of animal cruelty today. Can you believe that it's legal to cut bits and pieces off conscious animals in factory farms? Hopefully Ivanhoe Girls team will help the government to realise that this has got to stop.

Personally, I have never been more excited about Parliament. Did you know that more than 25 Bills have passed through Youth Parliament and gone on to become Victorian legislation? I smell number 26 ...

Sending all my luck to you girls! You have one hell of a cheer squad behind you – me plus the millions of pigs and chickens who need us to create a kinder world. Thank you for helping their plea to be heard!

Our latest Activist Challenge winner, Sarah, has found a really neat way to not only make Election Day fun, but make it count for animals. She has used the last four polling days as opportunities to get the word out about kindness to animals. She puts together fun information packs with stickers, flyers and veg-friendly restaurant menus and hands them out to voters and electoral volunteers at her local polling booth.

I thought it was such a cool thing for Sarah to do, that I told these turtles about it and they were also pretty psyched.

Sarah has been an animal lover for many, many years but in 2010 she started looking into the cruelty in factory farms, and really got proactive about speaking up for animals. 

This year will be her third year leafleting on election days. "It's fun because nobody expects it," she says. "And I'm quick like a cat."

It's a tough world for animals, because their voice doesn't get heard in parliament. (Although this horse has managed to make his political views pretty clear ;)). So with so many people passing by the voting booth on election day, it's a great place to remind people that we need to be the ones to speak up for animals. Keep it up Sarah!

Think you might want to follow Sarah's inspiring lead this coming election? Send her a PM and I'm sure she'd be happy to offer some tips.

What awesome thing have you done to be the voice for animals? Tell us about it and you could be our next Activist Challenge winner and win a bunch of cool stuff!

Would you like the good news or the bad news first?

I'll start with the good news. The Capuchin monkey in the third instalment of the Hangover series seems to have given up smoking!*

The bad news is that director Todd Phillips has found a bunch of new ways to upset animal lovers. The cast of animal 'actors', in what is hopefully the last of the Hangover films, includes a giraffe, two dogs and a flock of roosters. And here's the real spoiler: all of the animals (the characters, not the 'actors') are dead by the end of the film.

The giraffe is beheaded on a freeway, the roosters are shot at, thrown out of the window or suffocated and the dogs have their necks broken. A FoxNews reviewer described the giraffe incident as an "unnecessary and cruel gag."

But what really gets under my skin, is not even the cheap 'gags' about animals, but the fact they decided to use real animals. Even though they used computer generated imagery (CGI) for the scene with the giraffe in the trailer, Phillips still dragged a real giraffe on set for filming.

If I was a giraffe, there are a million and one ways I would choose to spend my days – practising rolling my GIANT tongue, popping my head through the branches of tall, tall trees and surprising birds, playing tag with my giraffe buddies ...

I would NOT choose to be in a movie studio, with a bunch of scary lights and noises and people telling me to do things that I don't understand. Giraffes are very sensitive animals and the one used for Hangover III had every reason to be stressed out and frightened.

The worst part is that it is completely unnecessary (and cruel) to use real animals in movie-making, especially given what they can do with CGI these days. Check out this video about the making of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, where no real apes were used:

"Acting should be left to actors," says Oscar award-winning Adrien Brody,"and that means human beings who have a choice in the matter." Brody voices the PETA ad which shows an extremely realistic and completely computer-generated ape.

Well said Adrien! Using animals in movies is no different to making them perform in the circus, which is why I will be giving Hangover Part III a miss.

What other great movies have you seen that use CGI instead of real animals?

*Crystal the monkey was trained to smoke a fake cigarette for Hangover II.

I've been on the edge of my seat these past few days, wanting to let you know about Animals Australia's Make it Possible shopping bags being sold in Coles supermarkets. But the last day or so has been a real rollercoaster ride. So now that news has changed.

The National Farmers Federation has been doing everything it can to keep shoppers in the dark about factory farming. And we're simply not going to let that happen!

Here's the rundown:

When Coles announced that they would be selling our Make it Possible bags in stores for the month of June, the rural lobby went into a frenzy. They called for producers to boycott Coles. (Someone needs to tell them that opposing a campaign to help people make kind choices for animals is really not a good look.)

Coles stood strong in their support of the campaign and have been overwhelmed by public praise, from everyone, except factory farmers and live exporters (big surprise). But sadly, amidst the vicious attack from the NFF, those at the heart of this issue -- the animals -- were being forgotten. And we could not stand by and let that happen!

The hens in tiny cages, the mother pigs crammed in crates, and the 'meat' chickens who will never see sunlight need their stories to be told!

We knew it was time to get the conversation back onto the animals ... So we've asked Coles to remove the bags from sale, for now. And we're switching gears and putting our foot down on the accelerator!

The farming lobby doesn't want to see this little pig in supermarkets? Fine. We'll beam her into every living room across the country instead! Starting next week, the award winning Make it Possible ad will be back on television -- nation-wide. In case you're wondering which ad I'm talking about, here's a refresher (the extended version):

I'm sure you are just as mad as I am about the farming lobby opposing an initiative to improve animal welfare. So channel that outrage into action, and help achieve what they so desperately wanted to avoid -- exposure of how animals suffer in factory farms. Here's what you can do to help:

• Share the Make it Possible film on your facebook page. Make sure everyone hears about the cruelty the NFF wanted to hide.
• Send some love to Coles.They deserve a cyber high five. They've been a leader on animal welfare amongst Aussie supermarkets and we'll keep encouraging them to do more for animals.
• Grab yourself a Make it Possible bag here. (Since you can't get them in Coles anymore, we've put them on special online.) Then waltz that little piggy right into Coles for every other shopper to see. If you get a picture of yourself shopping with your bag, make sure to post it on Unleashed's facebook page, because I wanna see :)
• Piggify your profile pic

Luiz is only three years old but he has made up his mind that he is not going to eat anything (or rather, anyone) with a head. In the last couple of days, he's become an internet sensation, with over a million views on YouTube.

There comes a time in every child's life when they realise that meat used to be an animal. I remember the day my little sister realised that 'pig' and 'pork' were one and the same. She put down her fork and cried. I'm embarrassed to say that at the time I laughed at her and told her to eat her chops.

Now, it seems perfectly reasonable to me that she should have this reaction and I wish I could go back in time, give her a cuddle and make her a veggie burger. But at that age I had already learned to accept what society says is 'normal' and 'ok'.

Children don't just accept. Children ask questions. A lot of questions. All the time. The questions Luiz asks his mum are questions that I wish I'd asked earlier. It was only years later, that I realised, like Luiz, I wanted animals to 'stay standing up'.

When did you first make the connection between meat and the animals it came from? How did you react?