This week came the good news that the cull of the Welsh badgers has been halted. Hurrah! There has been a real buzz about the announcement and what a relief for the badgers. We must congratulate the Badger Trust for their dedicated efforts in making sure the fairest decision was made. What an achievement!

A big thank you to all of you who took part in our Get Sett for Badgers action through our website. You sent masses of emails to Welsh Assembly Government Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones AM.  Well done also to Brian May CBE for raising the profile of this issue and campaigning so ardently on behalf of the badgers, as he has done for our seals and snaring campaigns.

On Saturday Esme and I took the OneKind message to a local Staffie Rescue fun day and dog show at the Archerfield Estate in East Lothian. We met people and their pets of all different shapes and sizes, from a 4 month old puppy to Lucy, a gentle and serene 16-year-old greyhound.

One thing we all had in common was knowing that our canine friends are capable of thoughts and feelings (and wrapping us around their wee paws).

I felt some sympathy for the contestants on BBC One’s Junior Apprentice last night. Split into two teams, this week the candidates were set with the task of organising a cupcake sale.

Now I’m not running a cupcake sale for Lord Sugar, but Heléna and I have been planning the OneKind events you’ve been hearing a lot about lately: the FireWalk and OneKind Live. I could relate to the teen-entrepreneurs; the nervousness associated with hoping that everyone will enjoy the final offering.

Just over 3 weeks ago, I made the 5 hour train journey from Edinburgh to London- my purpose? To meet my newest friend Esme. She’s a (roughly!) seven year old Staffy girl, who has obviously been used for breeding – for she has mammary glands to rival a glamour girl- and was found as a stray in Croydon in January this year. So to cut a long story short..

I make no secret of how much I love dogs, in particular my beloved Staffies. We have two pampered lumps back home in Derry; the only dangerous thing they’re capable of is omitting pungent gasses after dinner. When I moved to Edinburgh last summer I found a gaping big dog-shaped hole in my life, and after starting work here at Advocates for Animals, I began to look into fostering.

On Saturday Libby, Jo and I, along with Harriet Hare and the gorgeous Mr Foxy, made a trip up to Perth for the Scottish Liberal Democrat party conference. Our purpose? To show party members our vision of a Snare-Free Scotland, a vision shared by a huge majority of the Scottish public. These events and publicity stunts aim to get our message across to politicians, so that when a vote on snaring takes place later on this year our vision can become reality.

All in all we had a really successful day. For one, it didn't rain, so Harriet and Foxy didn't need to run for cover. No one could deny how well they looked standing outside Perth Concert Hall. Little children especially seemed to enjoy our furry friends – it was not what they were expecting on a quiet Saturday morning! We spoke to so many people passing by, and everyone agreed that a Snare-Free Scotland is the way to go. I spoke with one lady with a lovely Labrador puppy, and she was shocked and appalled to learn that pets can also be snared, such is the indiscriminate nature of the devices. I even had a chat with a group of gamekeepers who were totally against snaring. It was very interesting to hear everyone's opinions. If you stopped by on Saturday, it was a pleasure to meet you and thank you!

Just as we were beginning to rejoice at the (slightly!) brighter mornings and evenings it decides to snow! I don’t know about you but I am certainly ready for a pick-me-up. With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, adjusting to life back at work and avoiding a dreaded cold, I can feel it all catching up with me.

In the evenings, after removing a layer or five of outer-wear, I put the kettle on and carry my duvet into the living room to indulge in some TV. I bet you’d agree that there are few things better than sitting cosily on the sofa, safely tucked away from the elements. I find this weather can be quite harsh on my skin, so a real treat is Saaf Organic Hydrating Face and Lip Balm. It has a lovely fresh, clean scent and gives me a much-needed moisture boost, after hovering near various heaters and radiators during the winter. Saaf also have a gorgeous Organic Foot Softening Balm, which is very soothing. I find it best when put on last thing at night and then left to sink in for the morning. Saaf is one of the companies which very kindly donated a prize for the OneKind draw at Girls’ Day out last October, and it's featured in our OneKind living section- http://www.onekind.org.uk/onekind-living There are special discounts for OneKind supporters on fantastic animal-friendly products, such as Naturisimo and BareFaced Beauty, so do check it out!

For millions of people around the world the 25th of January means one thing - the birthday of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns. It may be 251 years since he was born, but somehow his passion, his compassion and his humanity still give us cause to celebrate.

We at Advocates for Animals think that, instinctively, Burns would have ‘got’ OneKind - might even be claimed as the first of the OneKind poets (alongside Benjamin Zephaniah, the latest famous face in the OneKind campaign).  We decided to analyse this a bit further; so on Saturday night we gathered with friends around a candlelit table, down by the Water of Leith in Edinburgh.  My first ever Burns Supper! We had vegan haggis, a few drams and plenty of talk.  There was a wee bit of singing too, which we think Rabbie would have enjoyed, once we’d introduced him to the karaoke machine…

This was a man who delighted in nature and in the animals that shared his world, whose verses were composed while he worked outdoors, and only committed to paper when he got home at night.  One day when Rab was out at the plough with his brothers he learned that his pet sheep Mailie had taken a tumble over her tether, and was lying in the ditch.  Mailie was set to rights and they went back to their work.  But as he ploughed, Rab was imagining how Mailie might have died, and how she would have had to bid farewell to her lambs.  By the end of the day, he had composed the wry Death and Dying Words of Poor Mailie, the Author’s Only Pet Yowe (ewe) – and taken a dig at himself for being so foolish as to leave a sheep tethered where she could get in difficulties.  It was, as he said, an ‘unco mournful tale’.

To a Mouse – a OneKind poem if ever there was one – tells of the time when he turned up the nest of a field mouse with his plough. Long before ‘empathy’ was invented, Burns talks to the little creature in tones of exceptional sweetness – recognising the terror he has caused her, promising not to harm her, and accepting that she should have her tiny share of the crop.  I was recently compiling a potted history of Advocates for Animals, and through my research I rediscovered that for many years, two lines of this poem- summing up the inequality between humans and animals- appeared on Advocates for Animals’ annual reports (or the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection, as it then was):  

I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union.

We so often wish there was a bit more acknowledgment of that ‘social union’ and the fact that we’re all ‘earth-born companions’ and ‘fellow mortals’.  Burns’ compassion and understanding touched a chord then, as it does today. 

But he could get angry too.  In The Wounded Hare, he rails against ‘inhuman Man’ with his ‘barb’rous art’ and his ‘murder-aiming eye’ for shooting and maiming a hare.   These were days when animals were killed without much thought, but Burns was tormented by the suffering of the wounded animal and the thought that, at that time of year, her young might be left to die without her.   But, he promised, he would not forget her:

Oft as by winding Nith I, musing, wait
The sober eve, or hail the cheerful dawn
I’ll miss thee sporting o’er the dewy lawn,
And curse the ruffian’s aim, and mourn thy hapless fate.

I absolutely loved my first Burns Night. It was perhaps an alternative one, with colleagues and friends from all over the UK, from Poland, Spain and the United States.  All brought together by the OneKind spirit of one man – thank you, Rabbie!

All set for Christmas? For those of you who have Christmas planned with precision, well done! For the more haphazard among us, myself included, wish us luck braving the shops!

This week the office is looking forward to our Christmas get-together on Friday. It will be fantastic to have everyone under one roof as we’ve all been so busy over the past 12 months. For some of us this will be the first Advocates for Animals Christmas shindig- it’s mine, so it’s all very exciting! Like any other Christmas do, we’ll be reflecting on and celebrating our efforts in 2009. No doubt some of us will also be nursing sore heads afterwards!

‘Every Little Thing She Does is Magic’ by The Police always brings a smile to my face. I remember how our Staffordshire Bull Terrier Patch used to howl at the line “...and it’s always me that ends up getting wet.” Isn’t it funny that a dog can be so opinionated about music? I owe many things to Patch – from learning to walk by holding on to her back, to my infinite respect for all animals. She’s gone now, but she remains my inspiration. Every little thing she did for me was magic.

Each of us is inspired by different things in our life. Inspiration can come in any shape or form; be it a person, story or place. Recently I heard the story of Harriet Tubman, eloquently told by the wonderful Sally Baffour, founder of the adoption charity Thank U. Harriet was born into slavery in Maryland in the 19th century. Like so many, she was abused at the hands of slave-owners; yet, in her twenties she managed to escape to Philadelphia. Harriet couldn’t abandon her family; she returned and under the cover of darkness freed her relatives one group at a time. Using a network of antislavery activists and safe houses, known as the Underground Railroad, she eventually guided countless slaves to freedom.

Hi! Following all your fantastic support for our Look Out for Seals campaign, here is an update on the achievements so far. A Scottish Parliament debate of the Marine Bill was held last Thursday, and you will be happy to hear that the discussions were very encouraging for our sealife.

Although we aspire to a complete end to the killing of seals, the debate certainly demonstrated a leap in the right direction. These gorgeous animals now have an exclusive section within the Marine Bill.