So, what do Wolverine and Jack Sparrow have in common?

a) They have beards
b) They carry sharp pointy objects
c) The actors who play them have taken up a vegan diet
d) All of the above

The answer is d) All of the above.

I know! Big news about the beards ;) Oh you want to know about the vegan thing? Well Hugh Jackman recently told Men’s Health magazine that he was in need of a big change after all the red meat he was made to eat to bulk up* for the new Wolverine movie (out next month). “I think after this film I need to be vegan for a while,” Jackman said, “just as my way of giving back to the animals.”

Naww. Well on behalf of the pigs, chickens, cows, sheep and fish -- thanks Hugh! Going veg is the simplest way to start saving the lives of animals. And Johnny Depp has apparently picked up on this too. Rumour has it that he has switched to a vegan diet as well, thanks to motivation from his girlfriend, Amber Heard. Johnny is yet to refuse or deny the rumours but has been raving about losing his paunch – i.e. dropping the kilos. (Just quietly, I lost a bit of paunch too when I became vegan. Then I discovered Mister Nice Guy's cupcakes :/)

So I’m thinking that eating cruelty-free is the new trend amongst superheroes and villains. Or maybe Depp and Jackman have just realised how yummy vegan food is. (Not to mention good for you.) I wonder whether they’ve tried this Mutant Mac ‘n’ Cheeze or the Aha Me Hearty Mushroom Stroganoff.

Which celeb superhero/villain would you like to see go cruelty-free next?

*What a shame Hugh didn't know that you can be fit and buff on a plant-powered diet, just like these real-life superheroes.

When I was little we were only allowed milk or water with dinner. (No Nesquik or anything! Tough times, right?) That’s because my mum wanted us to be healthy and strong and the word was that milk is the best thing for calcium.

But the word seems to be changing. In the last few weeks, doctors and nutritionists have started speaking up and saying ‘you know, maybe milk isn’t the best way to get calcium.’ Dr David Ludwig got the ball rolling when he said that humans have no nutritional need for animal’s milk. Then more health experts had their say. And this is what they said:

Humans are not cows:

At least 75% of people are lactose intolerant. Put simply, this is because humans are not cows and we don’t have the digestive system of calves. Naturopath Hayley Stockbridge says, "it makes no sense that we’d be the only animal to drink the milk of another animal and then expect it to be digested properly."

Nuts, seeds and leafy greens will do the job:

Almonds, broccoli, bok choy, calcium-fortified soy milk, chick peas, dried fruits, firm tofu = calcium, calcium, calcium. In fact, Osteoporosis Australia says firm tofu is the food with the highest calcium content. And it goes great in a stir-fry with your broccoli and bok choy. You can call it the high-calci-yum stir-fry.

Dairy might be making us sick:

A number of studies have found that the growth of cancer cells may have a direct link to casein - the protein found in cow’s milk. Also, the countries with the greatest dairy intake (Australia, the US and the UK) are the countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis.

Milk increases the chances of a bunch of nasty stuff:

Melvyn Korman, Director of Gastroenterology and a Professor of Medicine at the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, (aka the guy with the longest professional title ever), says he avoids milk to keep his cholesterol down. Many dairy products are high in saturated fat, which is a risk factor for heart disease. Dairy consumption has also been linked to an increased risk in ovarian cancer for women and prostate cancer for men.

Milk is mucus-y:

I’m going to go light on the detail here but many people get mucus from drinking milk. Mucus can cause respiratory problems digestive problems and skin problems. What's more, I've never heard anyone comment on someone’s 'sexy mucus voice.'

It’s just a little bit weird:

UK food publisher Michelle Berriedale-Johnson says, "humans are the only mammalian species which not only continues to drink milk after it is weaned, but, from birth, drinks the milk of other mammals." P!nk thinks it’s weird too.

And finally,

Dairy-free is kindness-full:

In Australia over 700,000 baby animals are killed each year as "waste products" of the dairy industry. These calves were born just to keep their mothers producing milk and sadly, they are slaughtered within a week of their birth. These are the calves who the dairy industry doesn’t want you to know about.

The good news is, there are so many awesome alternatives to dairy. There are more than 70 different varieties of dairy-free milk available at supermarkets these days. CHOICE has made a really easy comparison tool to help you pick the one that’s best for you. Or you can do what I do and buy the one that comes in a carton of your favourite colour. They’ve got yellow, purple, blue, green, red ... (Click here to pledge to go dairy-free.)

Which dairy-free milk is your fave?

Just when you thought Ryan Gosling couldn’t be any more swoon-worthy, he is. Gosling has penned a very moving article for The Globe and Mail calling on the pork industry to stop confining pigs to tiny cages. Or in other words:

RG compares pigs to his beloved best buddy George, pictured with Gosling below. (These two are so cute together that they have a whole tumblr page dedicated to their adorableness.) Ryan says that confining pigs for weeks on end is something that he would never dream of doing to George, "and that no compassionate Canadian would ever do to any animal."

Pigs are getting an awesome rap in the media lately. Just last week, Australia’s former Minister for Trade hollered “Save the pigs!” in an opinion article. “Pigs deserve our attention and care,” says Dr Emerson.

Pigs are individuals, each with their own unique personalities, just like dogs. (My house mate’s dog, Cindy, puts herself to bed at 10.30 pm on the dot every night, and gets real grumpy if you try and talk to her after that.)

Thankfully, people all over Australia are starting to realise that we need to be taking better care of pigs. Make it Possible (our campaign to end factory farming) has just reached the 150,000 pledge mark. More and more people every day are being touched by the plight of pigs (and other factory farmed animals) and pledging to take steps towards a world without factory farming.

If you want to speak up for pigs, like Ryan, then share MakeitPossible.com with your friends. Help us reach 200,000 Aussies pledging to end factory farming!

Meanwhile, who else would you like to see speak up for pigs? And what’s your favourite ‘Hey girl’ meme? Drop me a link in the comments. I’m addicted :)

Congratulations to Sol for being the lucky winner of last month’s adoption competition. (Well, Sol’s chooks are the lucky ones really.)

We asked for your stories of adopted animals. And we could not go past Sol's story of rescuing three chickens from living in terrible cramped conditions just weeks before they would’ve been slaughtered.

“They now enjoy dust bathing, roaming free and climbing up fruit trees and eating our peaches! They each have their own personalities. Gingernut is very greedy. Miss Pepperpot likes to hide her eggs and change her hiding spot every few days! And Popcorn loves to jump, run and pop to her food! They can finally stretch their wings properly and love to run (especially when they see me with the food bucket!) They are very cheeky and smart and cunning. It’s nice to see finally that these chickens are loved for who they are and not valued for what they can produce. In fact I love chickens so much I’m going to rescue some more in the near future.”

That last part in bold brought a tear to my eye. Imagine if all animals could live like this. What an amazing world that would be ...

It's clear that the Unleashed community is full of people with inspiring stories of rescued animals. So picking just one winner was tough! I’d like to give a shout out to Tammie2 who rescued two rabbits from filthy conditions and helped them to become happy, healthy bunnies.

Credit to LouiseL as well, who took in a mother and her five pups who had nowhere to go, and found loving homes for all of them. No easy feat cleaning up after five puppies, I’m sure.

And last special mention goes to Steffy T who adopted a cat with possibly the best name ever – Ninja! (Awesome.) Does anyone have a dog named Pirate? Then we could finally answer the age old question ...  vs.   - who would win?*

Thanks also to Steffy for summing up my thoughts on adoption to a tee: "Adoption really is the kindest thing you could do for an animal and everyone who adopts is a HERO!"

So a big high five to all the heroes out there. And a high ten to Sol for winning the adorable Unlikely Friendships book. I’m sure it will make a great bedtime story for Miss Pepperpot, Gingernut and Popcorn.

Thanks again to everyone for entering. If you missed out this time, never fear. We will have a new competition up and running very soon! In the meantime, why not be a hero and make the pledge to always adopt.

*Animals Australia does not condone animal fighting of any kind. (Unless maybe Ninja cat and Pirate dog were in suitably fitted sumo wrestling suits and their safety was guaranteed.)

A bill to abolish factory farming has been passed! Ok, ok, so I should mention that it’s not exactly Australian legislation. (Yet.) Remember the girls from Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School who decided to speak up for animals in Victorian Youth Parliament? Well, on Tuesday 2nd July at 3.30 pm, young representatives from schools all over Australia voted ‘YES’ to an end to factory farming. And now I’m even more convinced that teenagers are best equipped to run the country ;)

The bill, which aims to abolish factory farming by the year 2030, will now be passed on to state and federal ministers for consideration. More than 25 bills that have passed through Youth Parliament have gone on to become Victorian legislation. I've got all my fingers and toes crossed that one day this becomes number 26.

These six caring and compassionate individuals from Ivanhoe Girls have made a very clear statement to our politicians that young people care about the way animals are treated and want a better life for them in future. Here’s to a world where mother pigs are not confined to cages too small for them to even turn around and battery hens are not kept in darkness for their whole lives. Let’s hope our pollies listen up to the girls from Ivanhoe and the youth of Australia.

This just goes to show that every single person can make a difference and help to be the voice for animals. But did you know that more than half a million 18-24 year aren't enrolled to vote? That means half a million young people are missing out on the opportunity to be heard in Australian politics. 500,000 votes can make a BIG difference!

With a Federal election coming up before the end of the year, now is the time to make sure you can have your say about what matters to you and use your vote to help create a kinder world for animals. If you haven’t done so already, click on the image below to enrol:

Let's be honest, when it comes to kissing, there's the good, the bad and the ugly. Except when animals kiss each other. Then it's always adorable! Here's 14 animals demonstrating the art of kissing :) 

The surprise kiss (Source: funcram.com)

The peck ;) (Image source: cha.lt)

The third wheel kiss (Image source: mota.ru)

The side smooch (Source: tumblr.com)

The accidentally-got-you-in-the-eyeball kiss (Source: sunnyskyz.com)

The slobbery kiss :) (Source: photo.net)

The double-up! (Image source: thatcutesite.com)

The cheeky cheek kiss (Source: Edgar's Mission)

The O.T.T. kiss (Source: flickr.com)

The your-trunk's-in-the-way kiss (Source: canvas-of-light.com)

The I'm-so-cute-it-hurts kiss (Source: mrwallpaper.com)

The kiss that never happened. I swear. (Source: cutestpage.com)

A 'sheepish' kiss from Animals Australia's Lisa Chalk (Source: Edgar's Mission)

And lastly, a kiss for you :) (Source: attackofthecute.com)

What's your fave pic of animals kissing? Let me know in the comments below :)

What would you do if you came across someone who had managed to live to the ripe old age of two hundred years?

This is Stanley. (But his mates called him Stan.) He is a bright pink 'shortraker' who lived off the coast of southern Alaska. At his age, he could have been a great, great, GREAT grandfather to goodness knows how many fish. On the day he was killed, he could have been on his way to visit an old friend to talk about last night's game, or the cold weather they’d been having. (Did you know that fish communicate using low-frequency squeaks? Some even sing.)

Whatever his story is, one thing is for sure – Stan wanted to live.

This is Henry. Henry is the guy who pulled Stanley out of the water. When fish are taken out of the water, they immediately start to suffocate. It's the exact same feeling as if you or I were pulled under water and started to drown. (Check out this video where Ewan McGregor imagines what this must be like for a fish: Desserts).

Poor Stanley was a goner the minute he was pulled up. Fish that live very deep down in the ocean (approximately 275 metres in this case) have something called a "swim bladder" which is filled with gas and helps them to remain buoyant. When they are brought to the surface, the gas in the bladder expands and usually bursts, causing the fish to die. Sounds painful doesn’t it? :(

Henry is a "recreational fisher." This is what he does for fun. He plans to have Stanley mounted on his wall so that he can tell the story to friends, family and visitors in his home. I wonder if Henry knows that he can get trophies for table tennis too and no-one has to die.

Fish biologist Kristen Green said she was very sad to see a fish this old taken from the sea. However she also noted that "this is a drop in the ocean compared to what the commercial fisheries take."

She’s right. Commercial fishing kills billions of animals every year -- more than any other industry. Often, more than half of the fish pulled out of the sea by trawlers are unwanted and tossed back. Unfortunately, most will already be dead by this time and those that aren’t will probably die from their injuries or be too weak to escape from predators. :(

The good news is that there is a very easy way that you can save hundreds of fish (and other animals too). Simply don’t eat them. Pledge to take animals off your plate today and start saving lives. :) Stan would be so proud!

I'm just as guilty of humming along to Justin Bieber's 'Baby' as the next person, but I am fed up with hearing about this guy's complete disregard for the proper care of companion animals.

If you happen to not be one of Bieber’s nine million followers on Instagram, then you might have missed the brief appearances of several unlucky animals amongst the incessant stream of shirtless selfies. So here’s an overview:

Johnson

This is Johnson. He is a baby boa constrictor. Back in 2011, he was Bieber’s 'pet' for all of three months before the singer seemingly got bored and auctioned little Johnson off for charity. Interestingly, charitybuzz, who were responsible for the auction, added the disclaimer that "keeping a pet snake is a long-term responsibility." Hmm, clearly this does not apply to floppy haired pop stars.

Johnson was lucky enough to be 'won' by an animal lover who was shocked that Bieber was auctioning off the baby boa. The winning bidder has since donated Johnson to the Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Zoo in Minnesota. "I wanted to make sure the snake would be well taken care of for the rest of his life," he explains.

Pac

This is Pac. He was Justin's hamster. Bieber's sparkly-eyed love for Pac lasted approximately two months. Then, Bieber gave Pac away to a random screaming fan after a concert in Atlanta. The California Hamster Association (CHA) slammed Bieber for this casual handover. "Hamsters are fragile creatures that often succumb quickly to illness and death, especially when faced with sudden environmental change," they said.Three months later, Pac was dead. May he rest in peace.

Mally

This is Mally. Some banana-brain thought it would be a good idea to give this baby capuchin to Biebs as a gift for his birthday in March this year. Monkeys are wild animals and should not be kept as pets, particularly not by a travelling celebrity with clearly very little interest in the welfare of animals.

Mally was with Biebs for a whole month (notice a trend here?) before he was abandoned in Germany as Justin was unable to provide the right paperwork to get him on the plane. Bieber was given six weeks to come up with the right paperwork.

Meanwhile, Mally was kept in isolation in a German animal shelter, alone and only 14 weeks old. Poor Mally. Monkeys are naturally very social animals and baby capuchins will normally stay by their mother’s side until they are a year old.

Bieber continued with his tour and the deadline to collect Mally passed by. Finally Mally was put into a German wildlife park where he now lives happily with other monkeys.

(Interestingly, Bieber captioned this picture of Mally "He's like a human." Yea. Good one Biebs. Feeney49 gets it.)

[NOTE: This comment seems to have been removed.]

Tuts

This is Tuts. (Is anybody else getting exhausted by this list?) She is an adorable ginger Persian kitty. She has been in the 'care' of arguably the world's worst pet owner for a few weeks now. Justin picked her up within what seemed like minutes of Mally being seized by the German wildlife park -- shorter than the time in-between posting half naked selfies on his Instagram.

Tuts looks a little worried doesn’t she? And it’s no wonder, knowing Bieber’s history with companion animals. And also having a picture of herself captioned "Time to die." Hopefully Tuts will have a fate better than Pac’s :(

Mally? Or Mally II?

The latest is that Bieber held up a plane for eight hours in Miami because he wanted to go pick up his monkey from Palm Beach. Can you beliebe it? Whether this is a new monkey, or if somehow Mally has miraculously made it to Florida, my reaction is the same:

This dude is not even responsible enough to mind his temper, let alone an animal of any kind. I sure hope he hasn’t taken Mally away from his furry friends at the wildlife park.

What advice would you like to give to Biebs about taking care of companion animals? (P.S. He’s only a tweet away: twitter.com/justinbieber).

'Don't Litter Australia' is the slogan of this year's National Desexing Month. Isn't it sad that dogs and cats are so often discarded like rubbish because they are unable to be rehomed? Around 200,000 cats and dogs are put down in Australia every year. That's roughly 23 animals put down every hour of every day.

Did you know that one female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats in just seven years? There are not enough crazy cat ladies in the world for that many cats. No wonder dog and cat overpopulation is a big issue.

One of the best ways to do your bit to help prevent this problem is to make sure your furry family members are desexed. And if you haven't already, then this month is the time to do it!

July is National Desexing Month, organised by National Desexing Network. Over 100 vets across the country will be offering cheap desexing this month.

If you have already had your companion animal desexed, then give yourself a treat. You are helping to save lives. What’s more, your dog or cat is likely to live a longer and happier life thanks to you. Desexing helps to reduce the risk of certain cancers and other diseases. Desexed animals are also likely to be more affectionate and become better companions. So give your dog or cat a treat too, just for being so cute.

National Desexing Month is also an opportunity to spread the word about how desexing can help animals. Do you have a friend, relative or neighbour who has not had their companion animal desexed? Maybe they are not aware of the importance of desexing animals or are concerned about the cost. Why not direct them to www.ndn.org.au where they can learn about the benefits and apply for cheaper desexing this month? Or head here to share the message on social media.