ALAN ROBERTSHAW, of York Animal Aid, comes up with a few ideas for a cruelty-free Christmas.

A COUPLE of days ago I was idly half listening to the radio programme Woman's Hour in the kitchen.

An item about purchasing female lingerie, I have to admit, grabbed my full attention.

Interest turns to shock and, no doubt disbelief, as prices of £150 per item were discussed. Disbelief turns to disappointment as I discover that the £150 price tag buys you genuine mink-lined underwear.

I find it very sad that a beautiful wild creature should spend its whole, short life in a cage and then be gassed and skinned to line someone's underwear. What's that about?

While mink-lined underwear may not be flying off the shelves at Christmas, plenty of other things are.

Sadly, many of them involve a great deal of unnecessary animal suffering.

The good news is that we can easily avoid being a part of this suffering and it will not cost us much, if anything.

Let me make a few suggestions, starting with turkeys. In the wild, these impressive birds are fast runners and good fliers. They live in groups, forage for food and live for about ten years.

The average supermarket turkey has been selectively bred to put on weight at an unnaturally rapid rate, so that it soon cannot support its own weight.

It is reared in a crowded windowless shed and is slaughtered at the age of 12 to 26 weeks. Why does turkey tycoon Bernard Matthews, known to millions for his television adverts, find this to be "bootiful"?

York's bookshops are full of vegetarian cook books with excellent alternative Christmas recipes and they would make great presents.

If I cannot persuade you to become a vegetarian for Christmas, an organic turkey has at least been able to wander free and has not been stuffed with antibiotics.

Cosmetics are another popular choice as Christmas presents and most people are probably aware of the sickening experiments conducted to test their "safety".

In fact, a rabbit's skin and eyes are completely different to ours, so such experiments tell us little about human safety.

Most people now agree that these experiments are too high a price to pay for our vanity.

However, while such experiments are no longer carried out in Britain, many of the household brands still carry out these experiments abroad.

To avoid this particular piece of cruelty is not difficult and will not cost a penny extra.

Just look on the label for products which have not been tested on animals.

Every supermarket, chemist and health shop has a wide selection and most supermarket "own brands" are not tested on animals.

Buying Christmas cards is an easy way to help animals. Many people now buy charity cards, so look out for those supporting the RSPCA, PDSA, BUAV and NAVS.

I personally would never attend any circus that uses performing animals to entertain the public.

And finally, a dog, or a cat or a rabbit or another small mammal is not just for Christmas, it is for life.

At this stage, if not long before, people are usually spluttering that Christmas is all about people and why am I determined to spoil it and anyway what about the homeless at Christmas and the children starving in Africa? The two are not mutually exclusive.

The animal cruelty around us can easily be tackled by all of us with little effort or expense, just a few changes of habit.

This leaves everyone free to spend some of their time and money in tackling the pressing human issues which are vitally important.

And if ladies underwear is on your Christmas list why not think about organic cotton?

Updated: 08:41 Thursday, December 18, 2003