ANIMAL LOVERS: If holiday gift-buying seems hard...

ANIMAL LOVERS: If holiday gift-buying seems hard enough already, consider the challenge facing “compassionate shoppers”--those who avoid animal products or items tested on animals. (E1). . . . In Ventura County, Animal Emancipation Inc. has received hundreds of requests for its “Cruelty-Free Shopping Guide,” which lists animal-friendly products. Taboo: pearls, silk and wool, all produced by methods that some deem cruel. . . . Although she has become a vegetarian and avoids leather and fur, member Dorothy Done said such conversions take time in many households, including hers: “We’ve got these fish here in a tank. What are we supposed to do, throw them in the ocean?”

PAY LATER: When property tax time rolled around last week, many Ventura County residents said: “Charge it.” . . . For the first time, the county accepted payments on the Discover Card--about $700,000 worth. “It was a very big success,” Assistant Tax Collector John McKinney said--considering the Discover option was announced only days before the deadline. . . . One man with 13 parcels charged $45,000 worth of taxes, he said. “And that wasn’t even close to his limit.”

STEPPING OUT: So what if they range in age from 59 to 78? The Tempo Tappers still kick up their heels at festivals and nursing homes across Ventura County (E11D). . . . Director Jackie Warner Ringhof got high marks from one trouper. “She doesn’t say everyone has to be blond and tall and 110 pounds.”

‘GRAIN’ LOVERS: Against all odds, supporters of “Against the Grain” hope that the low-rated but highly acclaimed show can find an audience when it returns to NBC tonight (F34). . . . Leading a campaign to save the drama--filmed in Moorpark and Santa Paula--is the Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, who has often sought to remove shows from the air. “People have been coming out of the woodwork” to support the show, said producer Dave Johnson, a Moorpark resident. . . . But after tonight’s episode, only one more is scheduled--on Christmas Eve, when TV viewership is usually way down.