When you buy a dog or cat from a pet store you are preventing a homeless dog or cat from finding his or her forever home. There are about 4 million companion animals euthanized each year in The United States alone because not enough homes can be found for all the pets that are brought into shelters each year. First, when you adopt a pet you are saving a life. There are several good reasons I’d like to mention. Can you tell us why you think animal adoption is important? Earl’s relationship with his guardian, Ozzie, is very much the relationship I had with Earl, and Mooch is a bit crazier than any cat I’ve had. She is a little more like a typical JRT and her behavior shows up in my more recent strips as part of Earl’s character. But I’ve now had Amelie, another JRT, for about four years. When Earl passed away it took me a long time to be able to get another dog. Mooch is based on the many cats I’ve had. Yes, Earl was almost completely based on my dog Earl, who I had for almost 19 years. Do the MUTTS characters reflect your own pets? Do they mimic the relationships shared by the characters in the comics? I thought that he could have a cat living next door but I had no foresight that the cat, Mooch, would take over the strip. The dog I found was named Earl, and the joy he gave me and the love I had for him inspired MUTTS. So when I was able to finally get my own dog, I looked for one that was similar to the character I drew.

I started my career as an illustrator and would often draw a little generic dog in my artwork which, I was told, was a Jack Russell Terrier. I had wanted to be a cartoonist for as long as I can remember, and MUTTS is a combination of my love for animals and my love for the comic strip as an art form. What inspired the initial creation of MUTTS? Read our interview with McDonnell below to find out how this artist is improving the lives of animals one comic strip at a time.

Pet owners everywhere can identify with some of the mischief these two get into, but McDonnell also tells a deeper story of compassion, adoption, environmentalism, and animal advocacy. This dog and cat duo are the stars of MUTTS Comics ( created by Patrick McDonnell. If you’ve ever read the cartoon section of a major newspaper, you’ve surely come across the antics of Earl and Mooch.

Mutts earl and mooch