Search for First Dog Featured in Comic Strip

Soon after President-elect Barack Obama spoke at a news conference about getting his daughters a pet from an animal shelter because “a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me,” Patrick McDonnell, creator of the comic strip “Mutts,” leapt into action. He quickly devised six strips supporting shelter adoptions.

“I normally stay away from politics, but this was a perfect fit,” Mr. McDonnell wrote in an e-mail message.

The sequence, which begins on Monday, features Mooch the cat and Earl the dog, above, discussing the next first pet. “If the Obama household adopted a mutt,” Mr. McDonnell added, “it would make a huge statement.” “Mutts,” distributed by King Features Syndicate, appears in more than 700 newspapers worldwide and online at muttscomics.com

[Source: NY Times]