I love this:

It's time for your WTF of the day, this one courtesy of Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville. Evidently, a biology teacher at the school invited students to attend an after-school session in which he fed a live rabbit to a student’s pet python. The teacher dangled the helpless animal in front of the snake and moved her from side to side to encourage the snake to attack. A video of the vicious little act was posted on YouTube, presumably so that other students around the country can be desensitized to animal suffering as well. You can check out some of the press coverage here, and we've written a letter to the school asking them to make humane education a priority at Trinity Christian Academy and enclosing a "Kindness Kit" (look, I didn't come up with the name, OK?) with some handy tips, educational videos, and information on how to teach kids to interact with animals—like not killing bunnies in the frickin' classroom, for a start. You can read that letter here.

Employees at a Burberry in Philadelphia were surprised to come into work yesterday morning and find these two lovely ladies painted from head to toe in Burberry's signature plaid design and a little fake blood to drive home the point that Burberry tortures animals for fur. Glorious.

Just weeks after Pepsi announced that it would stop testing on animals, Coca-Cola has sent a letter to PETA announcing that it will no longer fund or conduct animal experiments. Coke had something of a history of invasive animal experimentation—including cutting open chimpanzees’ faces in order to conduct taste tests and force-feeding chemicals to rodents to test “caramel color”—so this compassionate decision by the company is a huge step forward, and it sends a powerful message to all companies that still test on animals about how a responsible, progressive company does business. Here's what Coca-Cola's senior vice president, Danny Strickland, said in his letter to us announcing the company's decision:

Strickland also talked about a deadly physiology test on taste reception in rats that PETA had discovered Coca-Cola was funding through the year 2008, saying, “Recently senior management became aware that research involving rats was being conducted as part of a grant we had funded at Virginia Commonwealth University to study taste reception. We have contacted the University and have discontinued our funding.” This is a big victory for animals and an encouraging sign that animal experimentation is rapidly on its way to becoming another chapter in the history of severely messed-up stuff we wish we had never thought of in the first place.

Folks, it's Election Day tomorrow, and apparently I'm not allowed to vote just because I'm secretly British and don't have American citizenship. It all seems extremely unfair, being singled out this way. Nonetheless, in the spirit of democracy, here are some important propositions up for the vote that will directly affect the lives of animals, so if you live in any of the following states—regardless of your political proclivities—please think about them when you go to vote. If you don't want to do it for animals, do it for me, since I'm going to be stuck at home desultorily eating pizza and watching the last season of Prison Break while everyone else gets to go out into the brisk November air and wait in line to vote on the country's future.

In Arizona:
Vote YES on Proposition 204—Arizonans for Humane Farms is leading the charge to pass Prop 204, which would ban the intensive confinement of pregnant pigs and veal calves on industrialized factory farms. Prop 204 would prohibit the cruel confinement of baby calves in veal creates and give pregnant pigs enough room to extend their limbs.

In Colorado:
Vote YES on Amendment 38—The Petition Rights Amendment (Amendment 38) seeks to give citizens a more active role in shaping their democracy, which means that animal advocates in Colorado will have more power to use this tool to effect change without having to deal with the petty technicalities and bureaucracy currently used to reject petition signatures.

In Florida:
Vote NO on Amendment 3—Florida is one of 24 states that allows direct democracy by giving citizens access to place legislative measures on the statewide ballot. In the past this has resulted in landmark initiatives on behalf of animals, such as the first-ever ban on intensive confinement in factory farms in this country. Currently, big business interests are hoping to make it more difficult for voters to participate in this kind of direct democracy. If passed, Amendment 3 will significantly inhibit citizens' ability to amend their own state constitution.

In Michigan:
Vote NO on Proposal 3— Up until this year, Michigan had a 100-year tradition of protecting the mourning dove, Michigan's official bird of peace. That tradition is currently in danger, but voters can weigh in on the issue. By voting "no" on Proposal 3, you can ensure that doves are protected by law from being shot at in Michigan.