Popular Cartoonist’s Life Saved Twice By Dogs
In the mid-90’s I was still relatively new to southern California. I had sold my bustling bus tour business in Washington D.C and moved to Los Angeles to try my hand at screen-writing. Not much was shaking for me for the first few years. Except the ground. I settled in Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley area. I can clearly remember being awakened about five a.m by my golden retriever puppy Otis who was barking wildly. Otis slept on the bed with me but he had hopped down onto the floor to begin his ranting. This was no ordinary bark but I took him outside anyway into the back yard which met an alley. Otis kept barking and was clearly agitated but did not relieve himself. I rubbed my eyes and looked around and there was dozens (if not more) cats walking around in circles in the alley. I had never seen this before. They were clearly not acting the way I normally see cats behave, but it was as if they were trying to escape something. Otis contined his whining nonstop.