Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the comic strip "Bloom County," turned his attention to the millions of animals in shelters with his book,
Flawed Dogs. The book is a silly, and loving, look at the "leftovers" at a fictional shelter.
Although the assembled pooches on the pages of Flawed Dogs may not look like the dogs you'd find at your local shelter, their stories are heartbreakingly familiar. There's Bipsie, who was the wrong color. Tina, who got too big. Lulu, who just wasn't cute enough. But, in the end, Breathed reveals the true flaw:
So in this world
Of the simple and odd,
The bent and plain,
The unbalanced bod,
The imperfect people
And differently pawed,
Some live without love...
That's how they're flawed.
In an interview with The HSUS, Berkeley Breathed, explained that he wanted to use his unique vision and humor to draw people to their local shelters to adopt a pet. (Click here to read an edited transcript of the interview.) He and the book's publisher, Little, Brown and Company, also teamed up with The HSUS to create a poster with four images from the book and the message, "Everyone Needs a Soul Mate. Adopt Yours From a Shelter. Where Love is Flawless." The poster was given to animal shelters nationwide and many bookstores.
Breathed also reinforces the adoption message on his web site, www.flaweddogs.com, and includes links to The HSUS and other animal sites. (You can also create your own "flawed dog" with a special game on the site.)
So what about cats? Will there be a Flawed Cats book? Breathed says probably not. But not because cats aren't worthy of the same attention and consideration. According to Breathed, it's just that from an artist's point of view, cats don't have enough variation in body shape to create the same sort of imaginative images you find in Flawed Dogs. He adds that there is a sly message in the book for cat owners, however, and points to the illustration and story of "Spanks," an unusual "dog" who admits to a fondness for tuna.
Flawed Dogs is not Breathed's first foray into helping animals. More than a decade ago, he spoke out against fur, using his characters Bill the Cat and Opus to draw attention to the issue. He also designed a special T-shirt featuring Opus for The HSUS's presence at a historic World Trade Organization conference in Seattle.
Breathed also has many best-selling cartoon collections and children's books to his credit, and creates a comic strip featuring his beloved Opus.
Breathed lives in California with his wife, two children, and an assortment of no-longer-flawed dogs.
