It never hurts to brush up on answers to questions about animal issues—even seasoned protesters can get a stumper from passersby now and then. See if you know the answers to the following five questions that often pop up in discussions about animal rights: 

What's wrong with eggs and dairy products from "free-range" animals? There are no standards for what "free-range" means, so animals on such farms may still spend most of their time in filthy, crowded sheds. Cruel practices such as searing off hens' beaks with a hot blade and relegating male calves to veal crates occur, and when the animals stop producing enough eggs or milk, they are sent to the same slaughterhouses as factory-farmed animals.

If we don't test on animals, what other methods are available? Computer simulations, cell cultures, human cadavers, and clinical trials are just some of the many options researchers can use instead of animal testing to obtain more accurate and cost-effective results.

davedehtre|cc by 2.0

What's wrong with wearing wool? In Australia—where most of the world's merino wool comes from—sheep have been bred to have excessively wrinkled skin in order to produce more wool. The wrinkles collect moisture, which attracts flies, so many farmers resort to "mulesing," a gruesome and cruel procedure in which huge chunks of skin and flesh are cut from lambs' backsides in a crude attempt to prevent flystrike.

Should we put endangered animals in zoos? Endangered animals bred in zoos are rarely released into the wild. Instead, they will spend their lives "warehoused" in cramped enclosures that cannot come close to replicating their natural habitats. As a result, many develop stereotypic behaviors such as pacing, rocking from side to side, and self-mutilation. The only humane and effective way to combat extinction is to protect animals' habitats.

What's wrong with using a choke or prong collar on my dog? As their names imply, choke and prong collars inflict discomfort and pain, and they can severely injure dogs' necks and throats. Far safer and more humane options are no-pull harnesses and halters like the Easy Walk, Halti, or even a standard figure-H harness. For cruelty-free dog-training tips, check out celebrity dog trainer Tamar Geller's video series for PETA.

Have another animal rights question that you've always wondered about? Visit PETA's Frequently Asked Questions page.

Yesterday was a momentous day for animals living on farms in Michigan, where Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill into law that phases out veal crates, battery cages, and gestation crates on farms across the state!

greenbudget.wordpress / CC

Michigan farmers have been given three years to phase out veal crates and 10 years to get rid of gestation crates and battery cages. This means that farmers will no longer be allowed to immobilize calves in crates that are so small that the animals can barely take a step in any direction. Pregnant pigs will no longer be forced to live in their own excrement in a space too small to turn around in, and hens will get a chance to stretch their wings.

The news comes just a day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill making it illegal to dock cows' tails in California, where gestation crates, veal crates, and battery cages were banned last year. Now that Michigan has become the seventh state to ban gestation crates, the fifth to ban veal crates, and the second to ban battery cages, we're hoping that laws improving conditions for animals on factory farms will continue to take the nation by storm.

Of course, the best way to prevent animal suffering is to adopt a vegan diet, stat.

Written by Shawna Flavell