When talking to our customers, one of their most requested items has been a more “formal” looking belt. Something that would work with a suit or a pair of dress pants as well as dress up denim. To respond to that request, we are proud to introduce “The Garrison” to our current line of belts. The Garrison has a rounded brass buckle and fastener as well as exposed stitching around the edges/ loop for standout style. The belt is exactly 1″ wide to accommodate the small sized belt loops found on many dress pants. It comes in both black and brown, costs $23 and is available now in our shop. Click on this link to see more photos or pick one (or two) up today!

The Vegan Collection is happy to announce that you can now find our belts and wallets at the newly opened Ethique Nouveau in Minneapolis! The profits from this vegan and cruelty-free boutique support the longstanding Minnesota animal advocacy non-profit Animal Rights Coalition. They are currently working on their “web presence,” but in the meantime you can visit the Animal Rights Coalition website to get their hours and read about the new store. If you find yourself in Minneapolis, you can visit the store at: 317 W. 48th St. in South Mpls.

Planning on purchasing something from The Vegan Collection for that special someone? The last day to make an order with Priority Mail and have it delivered in time for Valentines Day is Tuesday, February 9th at 4:00 PM. Express delivery is available until Thursday, February 11th at 4:00 PM and will be delivered on Saturday, February 13th. Please e-mail us if you have any delivery questions.

THE magazine for all that is veg*n, VegNews, is giving away one of our Spencer Pocket wallets in blue to one lucky commenter at the end of the week. Leave a comment here about why you think it’s important (or not) to be completely leather-free to win. If you ask us, leather-free is the way to be!

If you find yourself living in or visiting Seattle, you can now stop by Washington state’s only 100% vegan store, Sidecar For Pigs Peace, and pick up one of our belts or wallets! The profits from this vegan grocery and boutique go towards providing a safe home for unwanted, abused or neglected animals at The Pigs Peace Sanctuary. We are super excited that a store with such a great purpose is carrying our products. You can visit their site here to find out more information about the shop and sanctuary.

Although I don’t always (or usually) agree with PETA, the one thing they consistently do right is their PETA2 campaign. Influencing kids early on in life when they are much more open-minded is a great way to promote longterm veg*nism and animal rights. Today another great example of this hit my mailbox. spcaLA has started a Junior Girl Scout Pet Care Patch program where they teach Junior Girl Scouts about animals, learning responsible ways to care for pets, and encouraging them to help animals in the community. Earning the badge requires Junior Girl Scouts to take care of a pet for 2 weeks, keep a scrapbook with pictures and emergency information about the pet, compare labels on pet food containers for their food value and locating groups and places that care for pets in their neighborhood for potential volunteer work. Frankly, it sounds like this badge should be required for EVERY pet owner.

Click here to find out more info about the spcaLA program.

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Someone tipped us off to this clip that was aired on TMZ on TV last week. Media mogul Harvey Levin takes out his Vegan Collection “Traveler” wallet and proclaims “Leather Free!” His staff gives him a hard time about it, but we think it’s great that Harvey’s standing up to his staff and standing up for the animals by not wearing leather.

The Vegan Collection is happy to announce that you can now find our belts at Portland’s very own Herbivore Clothing Company! We started reading Herbivore Magazine way back at issue one and have had the pleasure of visiting their Portland store. So you can now stop by their shop and see the items in person or order them from their online store.

It was nice to see one of yesterday’s “Feature Articles” on CNN’s homepage was the article “Eating animals is making us sick” written by Jonathan Safran Foer. I have to admit, I haven’t read Jonathan’s new book “Eating Animals” but I have a $5 off Waldenbooks coupon sitting right in front of me which will be used this weekend to purchase said book. It’s amazing to see such high-profile articles getting coverage in mainstream media. That coupled with 3 books related to veganism in Amazon’s top 100 bestselling books is truly astounding. You can read Jonathan’s article here and you can also catch Jonathan discussing his new book at the Santa Monica Public Library on November 7th.

blogdowntown posted this article and photo gallery weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to write about it, but haven’t gotten around to it. Ed Fuentes followed Los Angeles’ Animal Sales Task Force on a recent Saturday during a sweep of Santee Alley looking for vendors selling small animals. As Ed reports, ten felony arrests were made including six with charges of animal neglect. It’s nice to see that the Animal Protection Unit for the City Attorney’s Office was there to explain to the gathered crowd why these animals are being confiscated, why people are being arrested and how these sales fall under animal abuse. You can read the full article with photos of the raid here. I’m hoping these raids on illegal pet sales will become more commonplace.