Here's what Jeff says about this week's masterpiece: "The strip is based on the sad measures that officials have to take in order to protect rhinos from poachers. And a little depravity thrown in for good measure."

He also let me know that, in honor of Earth Week, he sprayed this strip with 50 percent less pesticides. Which was very noble of him, I thought. Anyway, this one's a zinger—enjoy!

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To check out the archives of past strips, click here.

Honestly, I think I got most of the story out in the title, but here goes: According to TMZ, a booking company called Romeo Entertainment is suing an animal group after Matchbox 20 pulled out of performing at a rodeo. They’re evidently pissed that the group, called SHARK, sent Matchbox 20 info about the cruelty of rodeos, causing the band to cancel their appearance. And this isn’t the first time it’s happened—Carrie Underwood reportedly pulled out of a similar event in 2006 for the same reasons.

Anyway, good luck with your dumbass lawsuit, Romeo Entertainment. I’m sure the courts are going to look really kindly on this waste of their time.

You can read the full article here.

At a middle school in Tiny Poplar, Wisconsin, a science teacher is encouraging his kids to shoot animals in the area and share stories of “the kill” with the rest of the class. If the kids eat the dead creatures, they’re allowed to post pictures of their accomplishment on a bulletin board in the classroom. And not a single person in the school gets how fundamentally, deeply screwed up this is.

After concerned members of the community contacted us about this disturbing practice, PETA’s Sangeeta Kumar wrote a letter to the school’s principal informing him of the well-documented link between violence against animals and criminal behavior against other humans (this is especially true when kids start killing at a young age), and asked that he at least include some information on humane treatment of animals in his curriculum so kids could learn that there are other, more enriching ways of interacting with wild animals than shooting at them.

We’re still chatting fairly amicably with the principal about this issue—but it’s frustrating going. You can read more about this (and leave a comment, if you feel so inclined) at TwinCities.com. Note the quote at the end where the school tries to justify this sordid practice with the argument that people used to do it 150 years ago. Kind of like how they used to own slaves and deny women the right to vote.

Short answer: It wasn’t. I’ll let you know if we get anywhere with this.