The Far Side often found humor in the contentious relationships between pets and their owners – and although THE Far Side Domesticated animals, in turn, were not always entirely innocent creatures, and often got the better of their human counterparts, Gary Larson's Cartoons About Bad Pet Owners Hit Differentlyespecially for animal lovers like Larson himself.
The poor treatment of nature and its non-human inhabitants was a perennial theme for The Far Sideand comics where the joke revolved around cruel and unusual behavior towards pets played a central role in this.
That said, these comics were also some of Gary Larson's most misunderstood, as readers often reacted viscerally to the inhumane treatment they depicted, without realizing that Larson's sympathies almost always lie with the animals rather than the human characters in his cartoons. excited.
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One of The Far Side's most infamous early comics was about threatening a goldfish
First published: August 31, 1981
Many Far Side Readers will immediately recognize this cartoon, which stands as one of the most memorable visual gags from Gary Larson's early career. “So… you're still not going to talk, right?” The Far Side familiar nerdy boy asks his pet goldfish, sticking a straw into the aquarium's nearly depleted water supply as the fish looks at him with wide-eyed concern.
The joke here is a riff on lengths James BondStyle villains have been known to use to extract information from a character, mixed with the real-life family experience of children hurting animals, often because they haven't yet realized it's wrong. Still, this cartoon has the ability to disturb readers who are overly empathetic to the goldfish's plight.
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With this side panel, Gary Larson seems to say “Some people shouldn’t have pets”
First published: November 11, 1981
Pet birds were a common refrain in The Far Sideand as several entries on this list make clear, they were often subjected to some of the worst treatment of any Far Side pets. Here, a parrot has just arrived at his new home and it's already clear that he won't have the most idyllic life, while the wife reads the bird’s “manual” and says to her husband: “Oh, oh! It says here…this bird should not be exposed to unpleasant or abusive sounds.”
As with many Far Side cartoons, the funniest part of the comic is the bird's wide-eyed expression as he realizes what awaits him. The human characters, however, are coded by Gary Larson to seem like downright unpleasant owners to this poor pet parrot, which is vital to the joke's effectiveness.
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The other side reminds readers to never raise a hand — or attack — a rabid pet
First published: February 17, 1984
In this Far Side cartoon, an angry man walks down the street, holding a stick, outraged that his pet “to jump[ed] the fence again“, and took – except, hilariously, instead of a dog or cat, the pet cowering in an alley is one of the The Far Side lots of giant squid.
It's clear that this bad pet owner doesn't have the self-awareness to recognize that his poor treatment is the reason his squid keeps trying to escape; unfortunately, unlike some The Far Side another squid, this one apparently lacks the self-awareness to realize that it could easily crush its owner to death. Either way, this absurd joke from Gary Larson is still an effective PSA for readers, reminding them to be kinder to their pets.
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The nerdy kid on the other side needs everyone to know that his ants aren't just pets, they're property
First published: November 7, 1986
That Far Side the cartoon is silly, but that doesn't make it innocuous; In fact, it's quite dark, as it depicts a boy using a small red-hot brand to mark his pet antsthen his ownership of them is unmistakable. The humor here arises from the extreme extrapolation of children's poor treatment of their pets, and although the use of some of the The Far Side Familiar ants in place of a dog or cat might alleviate some of the joke's disturbing factor, but it's still far from healthy.
In some ways, what Gary Larson describes is almost worse than the “burning ants with a magnifying glass” trope – which The Far Side also occasionally practiced – because life on the “ant farm” was supposed to be cozy for its inhabitants, insulating them from the cruelties of real nature rather than exposing them to the depravities of human behavior.
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Readers on the other side know why this caged bird won't be singing much longer
First published: December 23, 1986
In another darkness Far Side joke about a bad bird owner, A man sits in an armchair and polishes an automatic rifle, a sneer on his face, while his pet parrot unknowingly courts a violent death by singing “Hey boy! Shaddup!“ repeatedly, skillfully imitating its owner's words, but fatally failing to understand their meaning.
This sharp contrast is what gives rise to this strip's humor, but many readers will have a strong reaction to the implied impending death of an animal before the joke registers a laugh. In that sense, this panel provokes what Gary Larson called “My God!“response to The Far Sideas its shock value precedes, it's comedic value.
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The worst dog owner on the other side pushes their pet to the limit
First published: February 6, 1988
That Far Side the cartoon is a sort of “sequel” to the fan-favorite comic “Dog With Gun”. This time, the tension rises when the dog not only points a gun at his owner, but also in fact, confront the human with a time bomb, made of dynamite, strapped to his chest.
“Hey, do you want to kick me? Go ahead!“, shouts the dog, evidently taking revenge for the abuse committed by his owner. The humor arises from the extremity of the canine's actions, but there is also tragedy here, in the fact that the dog apparently had no other choice. In the face of continued cruelty in this way , although this is certainly one of Gary Larson's funniest. Far Side cartoons, is also one of the heaviest and most complex.
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Giving pets access to deadly weapons is never funny – except maybe this time
First published: August 3, 1990
In this hilariously exaggerated Far Side cartoon, a pet cat and dog point machine guns at each other and pull the trigger repeatedly – with a horrible death avoided for both only by the fact that there were no bullets in the guns. Although, as the caption makes clear, this was almost not the case, as one woman warns her husband:
Introducing automatic weapons to some stupid animals was irresponsible to begin with, Frank – but my God! And to think you almost left the bullets inside!
While these owners are not entirely cruel, their absurdly careless – or perhaps carelessly absurd – behavior is enough to justify their inclusion here, as they are another example of humanity. Far Side characters who probably shouldn't be allowed near animals, let alone have pets, for the safety of the animals and everyone else in a close radius.
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Sometimes distant characters mistreated their pets because they could, not because they should
First published: August 23, 1991
Another pet fish is in danger this Far Side cartoon, when a boy passes an aquarium tube through the window of his house, draining the water from the aquarium – something his mother encouragesor rather, more crucially, it does not discourage.
“He wants to one day work for the Army Corps of Engineers,” his mother casually said to a visitor after her son, Lenny, began sucking water from his pet fish, apparently not for the first time. While Lenny's mother must certainly support her son's career aspirations, this is a situation in which she should intervene and tell him to leave the fish alone and find a different way to practice his skills; The Far Side worst parents as well as pet owners.
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An Unfortunate Far Side Quid Pro Quo
First published: June 3, 1993
In this panel, a man without a nose sitting in front of the television – like a bird without a beak sitting looking at himreminding them both about the moment the conflict got out of control. “Oh man, it was an ugly day“, says the man's wife to a visitor, while explaining the backstory to The Far Side “an eye for an eye” equivalent.
Although the bird may have attacked first, in this case the man's insistence on “eye for an eye”, sounds like a disproportionate response, as a human in a situation like this should not seek revenge against an animal. Either way, this cartoon stands out as one of the The Far Side pet owners' darkest disasters, as Gary Larson emphasizes once again that not everyone is equipped to care for a pet bird.
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A Classic Horror Movie Villain's Childhood Canine Couldn't Even Rest
First published: August 22, 1994
In one of The Far Side lots of riffs on Psychopath, “Little Normy Bates“is shown as a silhouette in the window of his house”,scream[ing] in your 'dog'” with the use of quotation marks making it clear that, like his mother in the film, there is no real dog.
As a Psychopath reference, the joke certainly lands, but it also stands out among The Far Side “bad pet owner” jokes, because it highlights that Norman's conception of having a dog includes yelling at him by default. In this way, it is a sad character study and also, in an abstract way, by extension, of the prevailing feelings of many dog owners. In that sense, once again Gary Larson deftly takes a superficial joke and imbues it with a deeper feeling, which was part of what made it The Far Side so impactful.