My book Living Cruelty Free has travelled a long way...

From Frankfurt

to London in fact.

Don't you just love that cover?

Living Cruelty Free - the video

Here it is the video I put up on Amazon to promote Living Cruelty Free.  

Thanks go to the video maker, my partner John.

I asked my dog Benjy to help, but he was too busy chasing his ballJ

Living Cruelty Free will be published on March 29th, 2012.

You can buy the book on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
The Book Depository - they offer free worldwide shipping.

The Kindle version will be out soon.

Ways to make the world a better place today

It's daunting, isn't it when you see all the bad things happening in the world whether it's to people or animals and you feel helpless, that there is nothing we can do. But, the good news is that we can all change the world and we can start today.

Here are some tips -

1. Whenever you see something you don't like, complain about it, tell your friends. Blog about it, put it on Facebook, Tweet it. Let as many people know as you possibly can. Complain to the company concerned.

Example - Someone informed me that Amazon.com were selling fox tails, so I contacted them about it using this online form.

2. Buy products that carry the Leaping Bunny logo. That way you are helping to bring about the end of animal testing.

3. Do you know that neighbour or work colleague you've never spoken to or just said hi to? Try and have a conversation with them. Make them smile. Even better make them laugh. Loneliness is a terrible thing and you may be the only person they speak to that day.

4.Ditch the KFC. The company hasn't been dubbed Kentucky Fried Cruelty without good reason.

5. Do something nice for someone. Buy your mum some chocolates (dairy free as chocolate containing milk comes from the cruel dairy cow industry) or get you dad a DVD of his favourite show. Get your partner something you know they will like. Help create a world where we show the ones we love that we love them and don't wait until it's too late.

Things I've learned whilst writing Living Cruelty Free

Writing Living Cruelty Free has been at times a distressing experience. I've had to research some things that were so upsetting I've had nightmares and wished that I could unlearn these things.

Things like what goes on in puppy farms, the shocking way that children are treated in Third World countries where they are taken advantage of by the suppliers to the big store chains to make things like clothes and toys, the appalling ways that animals are treated to make so called delicacies like veal and Foie gras.

There is one thing that I have come to realize whilst writing the book -

The countries with the shocking human rights records like China, are the ones with the worst animal abuses.

Could there be a link between human cruelty and animal cruelty? There definitely is. That's why in order to create a kinder, more compassionate world, we need to look out for each other and animals.

The other thing I have learnt is that we can never stop fighting for both human and animal rights, because there are so man people and animals who need our help.

It's arrived...my book cover

The cover for my book has been finalised and I am so excited as this is a topic I feel so passionate about.

I choose the white bunny because sadly albino rabbits are the most experiemented on as they have very poor quality tear ducts, which means they can't wash away irritants with tears like humans can.

White tabbits are also the sign of cruelty free as many products that are not tested on animals and that do not test the ingredients on animals carry the logo.

The book is aimed at people from America, Canada and the UK and offers tips on how to live a kinder life. It will be on sale in these countries and others.

What do you think?

The book will be available in all good book shops and on Amazon. It will be published in 2012.

Thanks go to my publisher for being so patient.

The cruellest things on the planet

I'm currently doing the research for my cruelty free book for a chapter on things that can never be cruelty free. Even if you're not veggie or vegan, simply by avoiding the filthy five you can be kinder to animals.

Here's my top five of particularly cruel foods -

1- Foie gras - force feed a goose or duck eat until it's liver gets several times its natural size. Then kill it to eat.

2- Veal - Put a baby calf in a crate and deprive him or her of sunlight and a mother and don't ever let this baby go outside.

3- Fur - Furry animals in cages. Some, if they're lucky, will be dead when they are skinned. Others will be skinned alive.

4- Lobster - How would you like to be tossed alive into a burning pot and cooked alive? If you did that to a pet the cops would cart you off.

5- Down (sometimes called feather down, duck down or goose down) – It may be well known that fur production is cruel but what many people don’t know is that goose and duck down involves animal cruelty. Many birds have their feathers plucked whilst their still alive, especially in China the major down manufacturers in the world.