Noooo! How does it happen every year? Mother's Day is just six days away, and all you've got prepared for dear old Mom is an impromptu poem on the phone. Or the old standby, flowers. But does it have to be that way? Noooo!

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Here are some gifts that will delight your mom while helping other moms:

• Give her some dairy-free chocolates. They're delicious and affordable, and they help prevent mother cows from having their male calves taken away from them in the dairy industry.
• If you're making Mom breakfast in bed, opt for a tofu scramble. Then no mama hens will have been exploited for their eggs, and you'll help keep Mom healthy. Plus, tofu scramble is delicious—it tastes great in "huevos" rancheros.
• For dinner, treat her to vegan veal chops—great cuisine without the cruelty.
• For a little glamour on the cheap, give her a bunny-heart necklace. This lovely little piece of jewelry will subtly help her share her love for animals in style.
• Thank Mom for being sweet to animals with Sweet Anthem Handmade Perfumes. They are vegan and cruelty-free, which means that nobunny got hurt in testing.
• If she's a whiz in the kitchen, how about giving Mom the new vegan cookbook Betty Goes Vegan? It's got all the classic Betty Crocker recipes, but they've been updated for the compassionate cook. Or perhaps these tea towels are for her. They show that her kitchen is animal-free and that her decorating style is adorable.
• Present her with tickets to an animal-free circus. It's kind of hard to appreciate your mom while you watch elephants who were shackled and beaten in front of their mothers. Check out Cirque du Soleil or one of the many other dazzling spectacles of human entertainment.
• Tell her that she's beautiful with the Beauty Without Bunnies cosmetics bag. It even comes with a free lip balm!
• Can't think of the right thing to give her? How about a PETA gift certificate? She can pick out anything she wants from hundreds of items in our catalog. Does she need a "Vegetarians Against Spam" shirt? Yeah, we've got that.
• Or just spoil her a little with a PETA membership. She'll receive PETA's wildly popular magazine, Animal Times, plus discounts on PETA merchandise throughout the year!

It's the one holiday when we get to celebrate Mom for all that she's done for us, so show your appreciation by honoring all moms, from feathered to finned!

Since PETA began campaigning to expose companies that conduct agonizing and deadly tests on animals, consumers have firmly supported cruelty-free businesses like those on PETA's list of companies that don't test on animals. Realizing this, some unscrupulous companies are concealing the whole truth from consumers about their animal testing policies, but you shouldn't buy their propaganda—or their products.

Recently, for instance, Shiseido announced that it would mostly stop testing on animals. While eliminating animal tests is welcome, the company added that it would continue to test ingredients on animals "where it is required by law." So money spent on Shiseido products will continue to fund cruel testing on animals in countries such as China, where animal testing is still required by the government (although PETA's working to change that, too)—meaning that the company has not eliminated animal testing entirely.

Mary Kay is another corporation that seems to be playing word games with its customers, claiming that it doesn't "conduct" animal testing. Yet while Mary Kay might not perform the tests itself, the company does pay the Chinese government to test its products on animals.

PETA has also repeatedly contacted a number of other companies that refuse to reveal their animal testing policies. These companies—which should not be considered cruelty-free until they make a clear statement on animal testing—include the following:

• Revlon 
• AmazingCosmetics
• Amway
• Elizabeth Arden
• Hello Kitty
• Jurlique
• Puig (Paco Rabanne, Carolina Herrera, and Nina Ricci fragrances)
• Talika

What You Can Do

By refusing to support companies that test on animals, we leverage our collective buying power to send a distinct message that testing on animals for cosmetics is unacceptable. To make sure that you're shopping truly cruelty-free, please check the online listing of companies that do and that don't test on animals or order your free copy of PETA's first-ever global cruelty-free shopping guide!

More good news on the international product testing front: After discussions with PETA, Pangea Organics is ending all sales of its products in China, where animal tests for cosmetics are required. For choosing principles over profits and vowing not to pay for animal tests anywhere in the world, PETA is proud to honor Pangea Organics with our Courage in Commerce Award.

© iStockPhoto.com/zoshyii 

Pangea Organics has been a member of PETA's Beauty Without Bunnies program and will stay on PETA's cruelty-free list along with more than 1,300 cosmetics companies and personal-care and household products companies that are committed to compassion.

Pangea joins a growing list of companies that are choosing to stay true to their cruelty-free roots. Last year, Paul Mitchell Systems became the first company to pull out of China rather than harming animals after learning from PETA that selling in that country would mean painful and deadly tests on animals, and other companies, such as Dermalogica, have followed suit. Urban Decay also reversed its decision to enter the Chinese market after hearing from thousands of PETA supporters. And NYX, Paula's Choice, Yes To Carrots, and Jack Black have all said, "No, thanks!" to the Chinese market until tests on animals are no longer required—and that day is coming closer. PETA is helping to fund the efforts of the Institute for In Vitro Sciences, which is working to help Chinese scientists and government officials accept superior, non-animal methods, and China is poised to approve its first non-animal test. 

Please help us congratulate Pangea Organics, and show your support for cruelty-free living by using PETA's brand-new global Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide every time you shop! Order a free copy or use PETA's Beauty Without Bunnies database to find compassionate companies that refuse to pay for animal tests anywhere in the world.