I forget the backstory of the Mutts critters, but even though they were adopted they may be familiar with the system of TNR — that’s Trap / Neuter / Return, what rescue organizations do with animals they can catch but don’t seem ready for full domestication. People who have heard about it but don’t use that abbreviation all the time will write in and say “I’ve heard you have a catch and release program for feral cats?”/
I think the mutts it is more a comment about how seals and other marine mammals can get caught in fishing nets, especially “ghost” nets, and die.
Besides the eco-friendly setups on parallel piers, both strips indulge in corny puns.
@ Powers – I was disappointed by that one. I thought the “polar opposites” joke would have worked better if it were a pair of polar bears and a penguin (despite the scientific inaccuracy).
” I thought the “polar opposites” joke would have worked better if it were a pair of polar bears and a penguin”
Long-distance relationships never work.
Plus, this reformulation loses the “seal of disapproval” stinger.
Not sure I get the “Yes! Yes! Yes!” business… is there a secondary joke beyond the “seal” pun?
@ CaroZ – It’s not a joke, it’s just hammering on McDonnell’s favorite single issue. The repeated “yes!” exclamations are meant to affirm each action that is kind to animals. It works in the first and third panels, in which there are three and one items to affirm, respectively. The second panel is a bit of carelessness: Mooch’s recapitulation would support at most two responses.
Comics I Don't Understand 
I forget the backstory of the Mutts critters, but even though they were adopted they may be familiar with the system of TNR — that’s Trap / Neuter / Return, what rescue organizations do with animals they can catch but don’t seem ready for full domestication. People who have heard about it but don’t use that abbreviation all the time will write in and say “I’ve heard you have a catch and release program for feral cats?”/
I think the mutts it is more a comment about how seals and other marine mammals can get caught in fishing nets, especially “ghost” nets, and die.
Besides the eco-friendly setups on parallel piers, both strips indulge in corny puns.
And then two days later, Leigh Rubin published this comic: https://www.gocomics.com/rubes/2018/08/23
@ Powers – I was disappointed by that one. I thought the “polar opposites” joke would have worked better if it were a pair of polar bears and a penguin (despite the scientific inaccuracy).
” I thought the “polar opposites” joke would have worked better if it were a pair of polar bears and a penguin”
Long-distance relationships never work.
Plus, this reformulation loses the “seal of disapproval” stinger.
Not sure I get the “Yes! Yes! Yes!” business… is there a secondary joke beyond the “seal” pun?
@ CaroZ – It’s not a joke, it’s just hammering on McDonnell’s favorite single issue. The repeated “yes!” exclamations are meant to affirm each action that is kind to animals. It works in the first and third panels, in which there are three and one items to affirm, respectively. The second panel is a bit of carelessness: Mooch’s recapitulation would support at most two responses.