Milestone Marked for a 'Mutts' Character

Posted Tuesday, February 20, 2007 12:00 am

By: E&P Staff The real-life Earl -- inspiration for Earl the cartoon dog in "Mutts" -- turned 18 on Sunday.

To mark the occasion, The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., pet columnist Joan Lowell Smith wrote a piece focusing on the still-healthy Earl and N.J.-based "Mutts" comic creator Patrick McDonnell.

"To this day, people stop me and ask, 'How old is your puppy?,'" McDonnell told Smith. "When I say his age, their mouths drop in disbelief."

"Mutts" runs in more than 500 newspapers via King Features Syndicate.

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Milestone Marked for a 'Mutts' Character

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