Mutts, created by Patrick McDonnell, was first launched in 1994 and has been in syndication since. Mutts is published in more than 20 countries and appears in more than 500 newspapers worldwide. Mutts features the adventures of Earl and Mooch along with other lovable characters such as Ozzie (Earl’s human), Millie and Frank (Mooch’s humans), Shtinky the cat, Guard Dog and many other animals.

Mutts Comics

Mutts teaches us about living in harmony – A friendship between Earl and Mooch symbolizes the coexistence of different spices. Mutts also teaches us about endangered species. A character named Shtinky is determined to save the endangered tigers. Shtinky teaches us not only about the endangered tigers, but also teaches us about no matter how small you are, you can be a part of making a difference in the world.

Strips featuring Guard Dog help educate people about the sad and lonely lives of chained dogs. Guard Dog is a sweet dog who craves love and affection. Even a little pat on his head makes his day. Guard Dog speaks for all dogs that are chained up 24/7 – they want you to treat them as a part of the family, not just as guard dogs.

Shelter Stories by Patrick McDonnell

Mutts Shelter Stories series portrait animals who are in animal shelters awaiting to be adopted and the people who care for them. Many pets die in vain at shelters across the United States simply because there are not enough homes for them. Shelter Stories is a great contribution to make public aware of the situation and promoting adopting pets from animal shelters.

Patrick McDonnell is not only a talented cartoonist, but also a great asset to the society. His tremendous work educates readers of all ages about being kind to animals and each other. What Mutts teaches us may be the most important, but often forgotten things in our daily lives…

Oklahoma Animal Friendly License Plate

Besides the money going to spay and neuter funds, other benefit of these plates is to educate the public about the pet overpopulation problem. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the national average of driving time each day is 24.3 minutes and Americans spend more than 100 hours a year for commuting to work. That is a lot of time you can help educate the public! Everywhere you go in your car or even just being parked in your drive way, you can show your support to the public and help people become aware of the problem and the importance of helping animals.

Animal friendly license plates are available in most states. Call your state’s Motor Vehicle Division or visit their website for more information. If your state does not offer animal friendly license plates, write a letter or start a petition to your state legislators asking for support of an animal friendly license plate program. Also encourage your family members and friends to purchase animal friendly license plates!

Intentional cruelty involves inflicting wounds or harm on animals including torturing, maiming or even killing. Engaging in intentional cruelty is a sign of a serious psychological problem and those individual may also have engaged in other crimes or predisposed to be a perpetrator of many other acts of violence.

Neglect is the failure to provide basic necessities such as food, water, shelter and veterinary care. Unlike intentional cruelty, neglect can often be unintentional, as a result of mere ignorance of the owner. Many unintentional neglect cases can be corrected by educating the owner. If the owner refuses to cooperate or fails to correct the problem, the animal can be removed by law enforcement agencies.

Each state/local animal cruelty laws are different. In most states, intentional cruelty is a felony. Agencies (animal control agency, humane society, or animal shelter) that has authority to enforce such laws rely on tips from concerned citizens to investigate and solve the situation. What you can do to help is to learn signs of animal cruelty and observe your neighborhood animals. If you see signs listed below, call the local agency that is responsible for investigating animal cruelty. You can remain anonymous if you wish to. Avoid direct confrontation with an owner of an animal you suspect being abused.

Signs of Possible Animal Cruelty:

• Wounds (fresh or ones left untreated)
• Excessive amount of scars
• Limping
• Apparent medical problems that are left untreated (excessive hair loss due to mange, large growth on the body, enlarged eye, etc. – anything that seems abnormal left untreated for a long period of time)
• Sick animals left untreated
• Emaciated
• Embedded collar
• Dogs who are (often chained) denied access to food and water repeatedly
• Excessive flea and/tick infestation left untreated
• Left (often chained) outside without adequate shelter, especially during extreme weather

Along with reporting animal cruelty here are other things you can do to help:

• Support your local animal shelters and animal welfare groups by donating and/or volunteering
• Support organizations such as ASPCA, HSUS, etc.
• Talk to your kids about being kind to animals

If you see a case of animal cruelty, please don’t turn your back. Because that animal needs your help and you CAN make a difference in his/her life.

The reason why dogs and cats mate is not because they are emotionally in love with each other. Their reproductive organs produce sex hormones and their instinct to mate is driven by these hormones. Since they have no control over this instinctive behavior, it is their owners・obligation to control breeding of their pets and spaying and neutering are the most effective ways to control unwanted and unplanned breeding.

So, what is exactly spaying and neutering? Spaying is surgically removing reproductive organs of female animals. Neutering is surgically removing testicles of male animals. Procedures are given under general anesthesia by licensed veterinarians and usually require minimal hospitalization. Procedures can be done as early as eight weeks of age, but the average age at which pets are spayed and neutered is four months.

In addition to reducing pet overpopulation, spaying and neutering reduces many health risks and unwanted behavior problems. Spaying decreases a chance of having breast cancer and eliminates the possibility of having ovarian or uterine cancers. Neutering decreases a chance of having prostate disease and eliminates the possibility of having testicular cancer. Thus, spayed and neutered pets live longer and have healthier lives.

Many behavior problems such as roaming, aggression and excessive mounting can be reduced simply by spaying and neutering. An altered dog does not have the urge to roam in search of a mate. Free roaming increases chances of getting hit by a car and engaging in fights with other dogs. Altered dogs are less territorial and show less signs of aggression.

Benefits of spaying and neutering are innumerous. If your dog is not spayed or neutered, why not call your veterinarian today and schedule a surgery?

If you are concerned about the background of shelter animals, don’t worry. Most shelters screen the animal for health and temperament prior to putting up for an adoption and they make every effort to collect history of the animal. Shelter staff can also answer questions about the dog you are interested in.

You should be able to find your local animal shelter in Yellow Pages under “animal shelter” or “humane society.” You can also use websites like Adopt-a-Pet.com and Petfinder.com.

And remember, by adopting a dog from a shelter, you are saving a precious life. Unless the shelter has “no-kill” policy, about half of the animals in shelters in the United States are euthanized each year simply because there are not enough homes for them.