Much as I love her designs and approve of her ethics, there's no way I can afford most of Izzy Lane's luxury woollens. A 400-quid coat is quite simply never going to fit into my budget.

Her accessories, however, are just within reach, and knowing there's nothing quite like a soft, stylish scarf that will keep you warm all through the winter, I'm tempted to invest in one of these 'Daisy' scarves, made from 100% Wensleydale wool, all from Lane's flock of rescued and pampered sheep. The scarves cost £69, and are available in cerise, lime Green, orange, charcoal, purple Slate, sea blue and (my personal favourite): 'cement'.

Related: '400 sheep' saved by knitwear label Izzy Lane

Animal lover Ricky Gervais has written a letter to Gordon Brown asking him to put a stop to the practice of using fur to make the Queen's Guards' bearskin caps.

With the backing of PETA, Gervais has asked for the famous bearskin caps, which are currently made from the skin of Canadian black bears, to be replaced by a synthetic material. At present, it takes the skin of one bear to produce just one cap, and bear cubs are often orphaned when their parents are killed for their fur.

Read on after the jump to see Ricky's letter in full

Related: PETA: Keep your hair on, Naomi! | Olsen twins get the PETA treatment

Last week it was the Pope who upset anti-fur campaigners, and this week it's our friend Gwyneth Paltrow. The vegetarian actress (who, I can only assume, has long renounced any 'eco' credentials she may once have laid claim to) has angered PETA over her autumn/winter 2008-9 campaign (pictured) for Tod's in which she models fur-lined boots and bags made from ostrich and snakeskin. In particular, an ad depicting Paltrow draped in fox fur, has prompted the animal-rights group to label her as a 'terrible example'.

Related: Gallery of shame: the not-so-green celebs | Top 10 green celebs

Anti-fur protesters in Italy have launched an online petition to make sure that Pope Benedict knows a direct line to the divine does not make it OK to wear fur.

The pontiff has been seen out and about in what looks much like a papal santa suit, causing over 2,260 signatories to show their displeasure. "The pope has often talked about protecting the environment and we are asking that he acknowledges that animals, as God's creation, also deserve respect," said Lorenzo Croce, head of the Italian campaign.

Just a little heads-up for a cause that's particularly close to my heart as a long-term veggie and animal lover.

WSPA is concerned the export of sheep from Australia to the Middle East. The charity wants to put an end to live, long-distance transport altogher, but as the world's biggest transporter of live sheep, the focus is on Australia to change its ways. In 2007 alone, 3.7 million Australian sheep were sent to the Middle East for slaughter, enduring a long and gruelling journey by both road and sea.

You can help by forwarding an email to the Australian government here -- it only takes a minute. Follow the jump for a video that shows why we need to act (it's pretty upsetting, but shows no actual slaughter of sheep)

Sometimes, you've just got to hand it to PETA. Yes, they do a lot of crazy shit, some of it verging on the alarming. But it's nice when it's deserved, and I was amused and impressed to hear they'd sent a note to supermodel Naomi Campbell this week, asking her to have a good think about the connection between her balding hairline and the plight of animals killed for their own hair, which is used for the fur coats she insists on wearing (and no, I don't know what the boot's doing there either).

Follow the jump for a full transcript of the organisation's 'bald' request to Ms. Campbell...

Related: Olsen Twins get the PETA treatment | Gore 'too chicken' to go veggie, says PETA | PETA vs. Burberry

The lovely people at Compassion in World Farming dropped me a line today to remind us all about Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall's imminent challenge to Tesco, tabled for the chain's AGM this afternoon. So as you chomp away at your egg mayo sarnie, the fate of chickens all over the UK is at stake.

You may remember that Hugh was asking for support from the public earlier in the month to raise the necessary funds for the rare priviledge of talking to Tesco about chickens. The good news is that he's made it, and can now go ahead and put his resolution to the Tesco board. The resolution calls on Tesco to adopt RSPCA Freedom Food standards or equivalent as the minimum for their standard chickens.

Scots singing sensation KT Tunstall is the latest celebrity to be welcomed into the PETA clan, and she's chosen to focus on the the plight of birds destined to become KFC nuggets for her first campaign.

PETA recently reported that KFC in Canada had brought in a new, more stringent animal welfare policy, but there are currently no plans to implement similar changes in the UK. In a bid to encourage them to follow Canada's example, KT wrote a letter to every single KFC restaurant manager in Scotland, along with a DVD, pressuring the company to stop its suppliers' worst abuses of chickens.

Follow the jump to read KT's letter to KFC managers in full.

Chicken saviour Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is currently engaged in an interesting challenge against his old friend Mr. Tesco. He's going to need a hefty sum of cash to get round this one, and is asking members of the public for help. So why should the man who famously sells chickens for £15 be needing your money?

It all began when HFW submitted a resolution to be presented at Tesco's AGM at the end of the month covering animal welfare. But unhappy about having its record exposed, Tesco rather arrogantly wants to charge him £86,888 to get the paperwork out to the shareholders before Wednesday. Hugh has responded by auctioning various prizes on his website and hoping to make the deadline. He's already paid £30,000 out of his own pocket, but needs to make up the rest from donations. Follow the jump for instructions on how you can contribute.

It's easy to buy free range eggs in the supermarket: just read the label, look out for those magic words, and hey presto, you've got free range poached, scrambled or boiled eggs for breakfast. But what about all the products containing eggs that we forget are there?

The Good Egg Awards is working to clear up this confusion with a high profile ceremony rewarding those companies that only use free range eggs in their products. Held annually by Compassion in World Farming, the event focuses on products from all over the EU, and previous winners have included Marks & Spencer, Pret a Manger, Sainsbury's and even McDonalds. This year's winners will be announced on Tuesday 29th April.

More shoppers than ever are prepared to 'shell out' for free range eggs, following Jamie Oliver's expose on battery farming, it emerged last week. For the first time in supermarket history, free range outsold battery, with 51% of sales.

In 'Jamie's Fowl Dinners', which aired in January, Jamie Oliver highlighted some of the cruel practices of intensive chicken farming, and captured the nation's hearts by putting live, fluffy chicks on the dinner table - only to slaughter the male ones mimicking what goes on in egg farms every day. This was reflected in February's eggs sales, from which the figures were taken.

There are people all over the UK getting up in arms about a seemingly recent problem inflicted on us by our postmen: the dropping of red rubber bands on our pavements, garden paths and porches. In one unfortunate case, one of the bands was seen around the neck of a duck. So what's going on?

Rumours about postmen dropping the items in order to 'find their way home' have circulated, but more worryingly, some postmen have claimed off-the-record that they are advised to drop the rubber bands which they are told will 'biodegrade'; a theory we are going to conduct an experiment to test in coming weeks. We've got a genuine, Post Office issue rubber band immersed in water in our kitchen and will be monitoring its progress.

Here's some good news for the poor, overworked donkeys that have been trudging up and down Britain's coast for decades carrying tourists: they no longer have to offer their services to overweight children.

Until now, kids of all shapes and sizes would be allowed to ride the donkeys, but now an eight stone weight limit has been imposed by new animal cruelty rules drawn up by The Donkey Sanctuary in Devon, and is endorsed by the British Equine Veterinary Association. In Blackpool, the working donkeys already have 'employment rights' which include working no more than six days a week between 10am to 7pm, with one full day of rest, a minimum of an hour's lunch break and a donkey 'MOT' at the start of the summer season to ensure the animals are fit. Let's hope these new rules are adhered to and these gentle animals won't have to endure any more porky children on their backs!

PETA's latest gentle request to members of the public to renounce their meat-eating ways has seen a visibly pregnant woman climb into a replica farrowing crate like the ones used to house sows when they are expecting and nursing their young, in London's Covent Garden. Other protesters held up the banner ‘Unhappy Mother’s Day for Pigs, Go Vegetarian.’

Personally, I think it's a fair point -- albeit graphically made -- since the pracise of putting pregnant sows in these confined spaces is one I find pretty repugnant. However, I fear that PETA has shot itself in the foot once again here with a stunt that many people happily going about their shopping in Covent Garden will take offense of sneer at. If you'd like to make up your own mind on this issue, there's more information on the use of farrowing crates here.

These delightfully colourful beads are made by LeJu a label that designs and makes jewellery using a seed known as Vegetable Ivory, which is the only 100% sustainable alternative for elephant ivory.

I wasn't aware of it, but apparently there is still a big market for making trinkets out of elephant's tusks. So when you wear this necklace you'll not only look gorgeous, but you can know that you're helping prevent the hunting of elephants. “I work with a product that has a wonderful purpose, which is to help stop the killing of elephants to obtain ivory," says designer Lenny Trines.

The jewellery is high quality but not too pricey: this 'Bubble' necklace costs £55. [Via The Bag Lady]