Dear friends,
As we step into the year ahead, I want to begin with gratitude for you, your kindness, and for the good things you do.
Each of us enters a new year carrying our own stories, many which are invisible to everyone else. I’m reminded that an important thing we can offer one another is kindness. The simple act of being there, of noticing, of caring, of helping.
As Jane Goodall said, “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
How we treat one another, and how we treat animals, truly matters.
This January, as we observe Unchain a Dog Month, I think about freedom. Not only the absence of chains but the presence of dignity, safety, and love. These ideas are at the heart of Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story, a story that grew from the belief that no one should be forgotten or left behind.
I remain deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring that book into the world: Abrams ComicArts, the mutts.com team, and especially Marisol Thomas who, together with her husband Rob Thomas, wrote an introduction filled with compassion and heart. Their words remind me that advocacy is simply love made visible.
Looking ahead in the MUTTS world: In April, we’ll introduce You and Me, the next MUTTS treasury, which includes the entire seven-week-long Guard Dog story as it originally appeared in the newspapers.
I’m also enthused about a new book series with Abrams ComicArts, coming later this year. They’ll be printing every MUTTS Sunday page starting from the very beginning in a beautiful "artsy" hardcover book format. The first five years will be released in 2026, appearing in two volumes that will be available as a box set. MUTTS has never looked better.
Thank you for being part of this community. Thank you for caring. And thank you for helping make the world a little kinder, one moment at a time. It’s more important than ever.
Yours,
Patrick
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