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Inappropriate Gifts

By Jeremy Meltingtallow

Bizarro 10-06-13 WEBrevise

 

 

(If you can place your cursor on the pedestrian’s backpack, you can make this cartoon bigger!)

Bizarro is brought to you today by Serpentine Circus.

I’ve had this idea in the dugout for quite some time but hadn’t drawn it yet. Then I corresponded with one of my most loyal, long-time Jazz Pickles, Jan, who, along with her  dog, Penny, and python, Louise, has been featured on this blog before. I found out that the three of them are having some pretty serious difficulties at the moment and Jan asked me if I’d do a another snake cartoon for her sometime soon. It seemed like the perfect time to use this gag, which features some of my favorite issues about pets, and dedicate it to her and her loved ones. You can see my dedication to them in the upper left corner.

So here’s to Jan, Louise, and the memory of Penny. All the best, ladies.

Some back story: I originally drew this cartoon as PetSmart vs. OwnerStupid, but King Features’ legal department said they weren’t willing to risk it so I had to change the store names. It’s not as good as it would’ve been with the original store title but I’m sure people will get it. If you’re reading from another country and aren’t familiar, PetSmart is a giant chain of pet stores in the U.S.   To their credit, they were convinced recently to stop selling cats and dogs and feature adoption days at their stores from time to time, and I am thankful for that. But they still sell all of the animals listed on the window at left, however, which I’m against. I don’t consider animals as objects to be “owned,” to be bought and sold on a whim, especially where there are so many millions of unwanted pets being killed daily all over the country. With a small amount of extra effort, anyone can find almost any breed or species of pet you want at a rescue facility of some kind. Buying from pet stores only supports the inherent cruelty of breeding facilities. It’s not the puppies and kittens that you see in the store that are suffering, it’s the mothers who are treated like machines until they are spent.Bizarro 10-06-13 hdr WEB These kinds of facilities are illegal in some places and, in my opinion, should be outlawed nationwide.