Mutts is a daily comic strip started by Patrick
McDonnell in 1994, based around the foibles of
pets and their owners.

Supposedly, McDonnell's initial idea was for a
strip featuring the humans who became the
"Mutts'" owners, but the animals took over.

Characters
One of the major characters is a cat called Mooch,
who has an odd lisp that puts "sh" (where "s"
should be used) in most words. His best friend,
Earl the dog, is the other major character.
Perhaps the most endearing character is Guard Dog,
a great threatening presence with a heart of gold
(who, to Mooch's good fortune, does not realize
Mooch is a cat). Among other recurring situations
we find: Mooch's famous "Shmousie dance", Mooch
"shnubing" his food, Earl's obsession with
Ozzie, and Mooch and Noodle's fight for Shnelly.


Other Characters
Animals

Shtinky Puddin (aka "Jules") - A little lost
kitty, who wants to save the world 
Woofie - A dog that "wuvs" everything and
everyone 
Noodles - An alley cat friend of Shtinky 
Sourpuss - An unhappy kitty who hates Mondays 
Crabby - An unhappy crab who always talks in
expletives 
Lolipop- Crabby's "soft-shell" wife. 
Mussels - A mussel that's always talking about
its "mussels" (muscles) 
Sid - An unhappy fish who wishes to be free 
Shnelly - The house cat for whose love Mooch and
Noodles fight 
Philippe - A bird always wooing his love, Phoebe 
Bip and Bop - Two squirrels who like "bonking"
ground-dwellers with nuts 
Tom-Tom - A former "shelter stories" cat 
Chickpea and Chickpea's brother - Two former
"shelter stories" kitties 
Shphinx - Mooch's alter ego, obsessed with
prophesizing 
King Crab - The "crabbiest" of them all 
Speed-o (aka "Little Earl") - Mooch's pet snail
obsessed with walking mooch, "his pet" 
McGarry - A bird who lives at the shore and tries
to get Crabby not to swear 
Humans

Ozzie - Earl's owner 
Millie - Mooch's owner 
Frank - Millie's husband 
Butchie - The owner of "Fatty Snax Deli," who
tries to stop Mooch and Earl from eating his food

Doozy - A little girl who loves animals 
Bushy - Doozy's best friend and a hero to Tom-Tom

Dr. Woo - a veterinarian 

Animal Welfare
 
2001 New Jersey Mutts Animal Friendly license
plateOn occasion, McDonnell devotes the strip for
a week or so to animal welfare issues, especially
the adoption of pets from animal shelters. Themes
include "Farm Animal Awareness Week" and
"Shelter Stories", where pet adoption as well as
pet shelter life is focussed on. McDonnell also
created artwork for the second generation New
Jersey Animal Friendly optional license plate
first issued in 2001. A portion of the revenue
from the plates goes to the New Jersey State
Department of Health's Animal Population Control
Program. [1]


Mutts Books
Mutts I: Mutts (1996) 
Mutts II: Cats & Dogs (1997) 
Mutts III: More Shtuff (1998) 
Mutts Little Big Book (1998) 
Mutts IV: Yesh! (1999) 
Mutts Sundays (1999) 
Mutts V: Our Mutts (2000) 
Mutts VI: A Little Look-See (2001) 
Sunday Mornings (2001) 
Mutts VII: What Now (2002) 
The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell
(2003)(retrospective) 
Mutts VIII: I Want To Be The Kitty! (2003) 
Mutts IX: "Dog-Eared" (2004) 
Sunday Afternoons (2004) 
Mutts X: Who Let The Cat Out? (2005) 
Sunday Evenings (2005) 

Sunday Title Panels
Sunday strips are coloured and their title panels
are usually a tribute to a famous comic strip, a
work of art or another subject, among which one
can find tributes to Flash #1, Dalí's The
Persistence of Memory, Elvis Presley and
Magritte's Golconda, to name but a few. Title
Panel Tributes.