Adventures of the Blue-eyed Bear

In 2023 the Blue-eyed Bear applauded the release and rescue of Guard Dog a Mutts comic strip character (see Mutts.com). Patrick McDonald the creator of Mutts broke the chain that had been holding Guard Dog in place for over 30 years and used the event to great affect to promote the release and rescue of all chained dogs. Patrick also release another of his characters in 2023, Sid the Fish, to much less fan fare. Sid lived in a plain bowl in Millie and Frank’s house and often interacted with Mooch their cat; all are Mutts characters. The BE Bear’s check of the Mutts.com online archive suggests that Sid first appeared in the Mutts comic strip in 1995; so Sid has been in captivity almost as long as Guard Dog had been chained. To Patrick’s credit and Mutts stated purpose “to promote animal welfare everywhere” he illustrated the drudgery of Sid’s captive life as an example of little cruelties when maybe humans think they are helping. Below is a Mutts strip showing Sid in his bowl from April 27, 1996. In his 1995 appearance in a Mutts strip, Sid laments that there is a God as Frank feeds him for the first time.

The BE Bear drawing above is the Bear’s imagining of Sid’s release back to his fishy family. Unlike Guard Dog whom Patrick remained Sparky and gave him a fine home, Patrick doesn’t share what happened to Sid after his dramatic release by a superhero Namor in the strip on July 19 2023. Still, Sid’s release is a great example of “emptying the tanks” for all creatures such as dolphins and orcas that belong in the wide ocean not small bowls or tanks. The BE Bear says let us work toward this release in 2024 using this little fish in a comic strip as our example. Yes, maybe it will take a superhero to gain their release.