I'll give you a hint - it's THIS Sunday, and it involves the person who probably buys your undies. That's right, Mother's Day is almost here!

I'm going to assume that you spoil your mum every day of the year, but this weekend if you want to really spoil her then consider getting her a gift that will help mums in the animal world too. The money you spend on these gifts is used to help mother cows, hens and pigs, who all too often have their babies taken away and never get the chance to display their natural mothering instincts.

Pure Gaisha Lip Balm $10

Pure Gaisha Solid Perfume $19

Bunny Symbolic Adoption $27

French Pear Soy Candle $44

If money is a bit tight at the moment, then never fear -- maybe you could make mum a cruelty-free breaky. Here's some suggestions in order of difficulty.

• Banana smoothie (you could make one with your eyes closed)
• Vegan pancakes (easy-peasy)
• White chocolate bites (you'll nail it)
• There's a stack of other recipes you might like here, too.

So there you have it. Mother's Day sorted! All you need to do now is make mum a card, wake up in time to make breakfast (11 am isn't going to cut it!) and remember to clean the dishes ... and the free undies will continue to roll in for another year.

Check out these fabulous photos of our Rise Against Comp winner Timothy with his feathered friends! Wouldn't it be wonderful if all chooks could enjoy this kind of life. Have you ever seen happier hens?
Cheers for the pics, Tim!

The other lucky winners were Jen, Darth Vegan, and Arieluxable. Congratulations guys! Guard the autographed Unleashed T shirts with your life (and no, we wouldn't advise wearing it to the Big Day Out!) ;)

Big thanks go to the Rise Against guys for being so generous and happy to speak up for animals. In case you missed the band's exclusive interview, here it is for you to enjoy:

Don't fret if you didn't win this awesome comp, 'cause we love to give away goodies and signed stuff from awesome artists. Make sure you enter to win a copy of the new book 'Meat is for Pussies', from Cro-Mags front man and author John Joseph. Don't forget to enter the free stickers giveaway this month too!

So keep checking back to Unleashed to win cool stuff, and remember we LOVE seeing your photos posted to the community too!

The celebration was fun (and yummy!), the recruiting was done, and the T-shirts were won!

Thanks to everyone who took the opportunity to inspire and tell more people about Unleashed. We got lots of new supporters for our first birthday, all because of you! Thank YOU!

If only there was a free T for everyone who pitched in ... man, everyone would look so stylish ... Unfortunately there were only two to give away and the lucky winners are Tofu Ninja and Connors_mummy!

Check out Connors_mummy modelling her prize! Best looking life saver around!

If you missed out, don't despair! Unleashed is always on the lookout for freebies to give away to our animal loving friends. Check out our current Rise Against comp (closing soon!) and the 'Meat is for Pussies' comp.

And don't forget you can enter every month to win some free stickers that help get the cruelty free message out on your diary, your pencil case, your little brother ... wherever you see fit!

And if you simply can't live without one of the grooviest T-shirts around, you can just grab one from the Unleashed online shop!

We've since got our hands on girls' sizes in the Kicking Ass T too, cause we reckon girls are just as tough as guys (tougher even?)

How do you think we can top these celebrations when we turn 2?

One, two, three..? How about thousands!

That might sound like a tall order, but every year Animals Australia finds a new way to spoil your Mum, whilst also helping out the thousands of mother animals who are locked up inside factory farms.

This year Animals Australia has hooked up with 'Growing Gifts' to create what I think is simply the most awesome Mother's Day gift anyone could buy ... a bundle of goodies that includes a real live lemon-scented tea tree! I just wish I was a Mum so someone would buy this for me! :-)

Looks preeeeetty swish, huh? The real value in this gift however is the bit you don't see in the picture. Each 'Growing Gift' helps to fund important campaigns to end factory farming, like this one, this one and this one.

Pigs are one of the smartest animals on the planet -- as smart as dogs and 3 year old children! Yet in factory farms mother pigs are locked up in tiny crates so small they can't even turn around. Pretty shocking, right? Well someone needs to stand up for these amazing animals. And that someone is us. So if you haven't worked out what to give Mum for Mother's Day yet, then maybe this is it!

You can order the small tree gift for $40, but if you don't have enough dough saved up for that then here are some other gorgeous gift ideas that aren't so expensive, but will also help out the animals:

White Tea & Ginger Solid Perfume from Pure Gaisha $15

Perfect Potion Vanilla Bean Lip Balm $12

Wild Frangipani Natural Soy Candle $22

Christine's Ark (Paperback) $30

If you don't have a credit card, and can't borrow one, then don't panic -- just call our office pixies on a weekday on (03) 9329 6333 and they'll help you out. And while you're planning the perfect day-off for Mum, here are a few winning breakfast-in-bed recipes that are sure to get you out of cleaning your room for at least a week:

• Fat-Free Banana Pancakes
• (or the equally yummy but not-so-fat-free pancakes)
• Banana Date Slice

So now you know what I'm planning for my Mum this Mother's Day. What are your plans?

Do you just *LOVE* those sunny days chillaxing on the beach and catching some waves ... but HATE the way your drink always dribbles condensation all over your hand, and warms to an unpleasant temperature WAY before you've reached the bottom?

I know I do. Aside from the heatwaves, my wilting vegetable garden and sunburn, that's pretty much my #1 complaint about the Aussie sun. Well we can't do a lot about the heat, but now there IS a way to manage all your drinking needs in style...

That's right, it's the Unleashed drink cooler, loved by people, and dogs!

If you want to get your hands around one of these numbers then here are your options:

1) Grab a credit/debit card and buy one online right now, or
2) Enter our cooler comp to win one for free!

What's this about a cooler comp you say?? Well I'm glad you asked! See, I was so inspired by my trip to the beach that I felt the need to share the cooler love a little further. So I convinced the office pixies to let us give away three Unleashed coolers for free! I know, cool huh? ;) All you need to do is comment below and tell us what the Unleashed cooler is cooler than.

All the coolness could be yours...

UPDATE: Gee the competition was hot! But the coolest entries have finally been picked. So congrats to Tweesa, diane77 and ecochick1800 for scoring themselves an Unleashed cooler!

Not long ago we unveiled to you the 3 cutest badges in the world. To celebrate we asked you where you would pin these animal activist accessories, and promised to make five lucky entrants very very happy by sending them out a pack of all 3. Well today's the day... so the question is: Are you feeling lucky?

Without further ado, congratulations to tomatoslater for wanting to add some flare to her cruelty free kicks; to Rainer for suggesting she'd turn her piggy companions into advocates; and to Georgie who is going put a smile on sick kids' faces when she shows off her cute new badges. We also loved the idea that the student's in Vic's math class would learn that 'animal + exploitation = sucks', not to mention 'teacher + Unleashed badges = cool teacher'. Finally congrats to corkface for not only coming up with some great spots to sport these badges, but being so eager to get her hands on them that she just kept on coming back with more great ideas.

And if it wasn't your lucky day, then a quick trip to the Unleashed shop can set things straight ;)

Do you ever get that feeling there's something missing in your life?
Does that nagging feeling keep you up at night?
Fortunately we've got the remedy... Unleashed BADGES!

That's right. Bling for people who care. A drum roll for the cutest badges in the world... Here are the 3 winning designs (voted by you):

To celebrate their arrival, we're giving you the chance to be one of the very first people to win a set of all 3. To enter all you have to do is comment below to tell us where you'll pin the badges if you win. Our fave five entrants will be in badge heaven!

And if you just can't wait to find out if you've won, you can always head over to the Unleashed Shop and pick up a value pack of all 3 right now.

After much deliberation, the winners of the new Unleashed poster comp have been decided. With so many awesome entries it was impossible for us to pick just one winner.

So we didn't!

A drum roll please...

Congrats to Georgie for setting a stellar example to other med students and future patients of how to live a healthy and cruelty free life. And a big 'hoorah!' to nAoMi for her kick ass creativity! We admire any (super)hero for the animals who dresses for the occasion :-P Not to mention the fact we think this poster will look hot in your environmental/animal club headquarters.

All of the entries would have made worthy winners. So if you didn't win, you don't need to miss out. Why not reward yourself with a set of all 3 of our shiny new posters from the Unleashed shop.

We need your help!! The nine new super-cool Unleashed badge designs are in, but the bosses are telling us that right now we can only produce three! Eek! We can't decide, so, we want YOU to decide for us...

Which of these do you want to see in the Unleashed shop? Leave a comment below with your top three, and help to make your fave Unleashed badge designs a reality!

So, last week, whilst everyone was busy uploading their latest mug shots and attending jumps racing protests, a little milestone happened ... the thousandth member joined Unleashed :-)

Yep — we're now more than 1,000 members strong with recent recruits from every corner of Aus and even a few blow-ins from around the world. With so many new and caring voices for animals we think it's time to celebrate! And to mark the occasion we've created three brand new Unleashed posters (in 42cm x 42cm glory) for your viewing pleasure:

If you like what you see you can head on over to the Unleashed Shop and pick up a value-pack of all 3 today. Or, if you've already blown your spending money this week (like I have), then leave a comment below to tell us how you kick ass for the animals and you could score yourself a spankin new 'Kicking Ass' Poster! We'll be judging entries on flair, creativity, and general kick-ass-ness.

Earlier in the week we appealed to the chocolate admirers out there with the promise of free Constant Craving Truffles. So began the hunt for Unleashed's most worthy chocoholic. But sheesh – you didn't make it easy on us – the competition was fierce! After reading the responses from so many worthy candidates, we were so overwhelmed by the heartfelt pleas for chocolate that we realised we couldn't choose just one winner...

So it's time to congratulate our two most worthy chocoholics, Matt.Y, who promises to give the chockies to his Mum (we want photographic evidence, Matt), and chaha33, the super-keen-vegan-cocoa-bean-eating-poetry-machine! Congratulations Matt.Y and chacha33 – your bundle of 10 Constant Craving Truffles are zooming from the Unleashed office to your doorstep right now! But that's not all. We've also thrown in some free stickers for good measure :-)

In truth we believe everybody deserves chocolate, and really there's no reason to miss out. If all this chocolate-talk has you salivating at your keyboard, then follow me to the Unleashed shop where you can pick up your own bag of truffles for just $10 (or $20 if you're really serious). All the money raised through the shop goes towards helping animals and fighting animal cruelty.

And just for you lovely folks, postage is free :-)

I can hardly contain my excitement as I write this... There has been so much chatter about dairy-free chocolate on the forum recently that we thought we would share the love even further and give away some vegan chocolate.

That's right – FREE CHOCOLATE!

In fact, we've all gone a little chocolate-mad with two new chocolate gift packs for sale in the Unleashed shop. And believe me, there's a good reason they call them 'Constant Craving' truffles. If you want to impress someone, I promise you, the only thing you'll ever need to do is get them some of these...

Constant Craving Truffles - 5 pack ($10)

Constant Craving Truffles - 10 pack ($20)

Each pack includes five dreamy varieties including Jaffa Delight, Coffee, Scorched Almond, Coconut, and Apricot Dream.

Ok ok ok, back to the free chocolate :-) If you want to get your hands on free pack of these melt-in-your-mouth truffles simply leave a comment below and tell us why you deserve them. We'll send the most worthy candidate a chock-filled gift to satiate those constant cravings...

Update: most worthy chocoholics announced! Click here to find out who won.

So mother's day is just round the corner, and if you're like me, you're still umming and ahhing over what to get that special lady in your life (ie. mum)... ;-)

Well um and ah no more, 'cos we've got the thing for you - a gift that gives twice! Put a smile on mum's dial and help mothers in factory farms all at the same time with these delish gifts:

‘Sumptuous Scents’ Gift Contents: 1 x all-natural Ecoya 'wild frangipani' soy candle, 1 x Pure Gaisha 'White Tea & Ginger' solid perfume in a heart-shaped tin, 2 x Constant Craving dairy-free chocolate truffles, and a Mother's Day Gift Card, which highlights how the proceeds from this gift will help shine a light on the plight of mothers in factory farms in Australia.

‘Sweet Dream’ Gift Contents: 1 x Perfect Potion 'Vanilla Bean' lip balm, 5 x Constant Craving dairy-free chocolate truffles (Jaffa Delight, Coffee, Scorched Almond, Coconut, and Apricot Dream), and a Mother's Day Gift Card, which highlights how the proceeds from this gift will help shine a light on the plight of mothers in factory farms in Australia.

Check out the Unleashed store for plenty of other great gifts.

And if you're on a tight budget, never fear! Here are a few creative and cruelty free ideas to help you pamper mum:

• Pick some flowers from the garden and bake her some heavenly vegan cupcakes.
• Make her a delicious brekky in bed, with: fruit salad and fat-free banana pancakes.
• Or visit WhyVeg.com for other great recipe ideas.
• And don't forget to wash up! ;-)

While we here at Unleashed like to think we're on the ball, every once in a while a great band slips under our tour radar. Children of Bodom was one of those bands. These Finnish bad boys blazed their way across the country in June this year, and unbeknownst to us picked up one of our tees along the way.

The band's lead singer, Alexi Laiho is one helluva guitar guru (you should see this guy play!). But there's more to Alexi than mad guitar solos and intense vocals—Alexi's down with helping animals too. So much so that he even sported his new Animals Australia tee on stage at their Perth show. There's nothing like a gritty guitar superstar doing his bit for animals!


Alexi Laiho backstage at the Capitol, Perth.

A big thanks to Antonella and the fab crew at Just Say Rock for not only hooking Alexi up with one of our shirts, but also sending us the photo. Thanks also to theRoute777 of moomu Photography for letting us use his amazing photos from the event (doesn't that photo of Alexi in action at the top of the page rock!).

If you want to do your bit for animals too, then head on over to our shop and do as Alexi does—wear your message loud and proud!