Here are the dossiers for the humans in the strip,
excluding Mr Milton and his
Ungrateful Relatives. Given that the current arc involves them, they can wait a bit pending further information.
That limits this entry to the
Sandwiches, Bill, Jake, Ryan, Jerry, the
Fat PETA Guy, and the (often nameless)
Minor Characters. Given that there’s not much about the humans that needs explaining - and that there's very little background on several of them - possible backstories have not been included.
The Sandwiches:
1) Mrs Sandwich first appears, having obtained batteries for Peanuts Nintendo - possibly among other errands.
2) Mrs Sandwich (or, less likely, Mr Sandwich) is startled to find the living room soaked.
Inference; The Sandwiches are used to leaving the pets on their own for a bit and usually took it for granted that their pets would behave themselves. This is a modest setback for that belief.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/06/1 ... to-an-end/3) Mr Earl Sandwich gets his first lines, but does not yet appear.
Inference: Some pets don't have hands, otherwise plastic-flap "pet doors" probably would not exist.
Note: The Pet Doors are never mentioned or seen again. The Sandwiches probably uninstalled them, leaving Grape and Peanut to simply use the regular doors.
Inference: Mr Sandwich probably didn't check on what he was buying and/or having installed as carefully as he should have, and thus wound up with generic plastic-flap “pet doors†instead of something suited to the pets he actually owned.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/08/15/a-minor-flaw/4) Mr Sandwich first appears. He's willing to point out loopholes in the leash laws.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/10/1 ... ll-travel/5) Mr Sandwich notes that Grape and Peanut will need to manage their time better during their visits to the zoo (and presumably on other outings).
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/11/0 ... -literate/6) Mr Sandwich appears again, taking Grape and Peanut to the vet for a checkup and booster shots.
Inference: Either Mr Sandwich is strong enough to barely notice Grape's two-handed tugging on her leash or it’s mostly for show and she isn’t actually putting that much effort into it.
Note: Grape either doesn’t think of unclipping her leash or doesn’t want to. This may be related to the abandonment issues shown in later strips.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/01/2 ... ough-pain/7) Mr Sandwich is not especially impressed with Grape's histrionics. Of course, he's apparently taken her to the vet before, and is aware that she'll barely remember anything tomorrow.
Note: Presumably Peanut has been to the vet at least twice before, and Mr Sandwich knows that it hasn't noticeably harmed Peanut either.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/02/0 ... treatment/8) Mr Sandwich continues to ignore Grape's dramatics.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/02/0 ... ompassion/9) Mrs Sandwich likes to dress up her pets and take pictures.
Inference: Mrs Sandwich is used to feline opposition to such activities, and doesn’t take it at all seriously.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/02/1 ... -stitches/10) Mrs Sandwich - and possibly many other cat owners - are willing to either take their pets to a midnight book release or to let them go on their own.
Inference: The Sandwiches are pretty indulgent. They also apparently make a good living, judging by the number of toys they’ve provided for Grape and Peanut.
Note: Human children do exist in the Housepets universe. This was probably generally assumed, but here it’s confirmed.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/03/1 ... cat-again/11) The Sandwiches have not filled their pets in about the details of their extended family.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/06/08/no-excuses/12) Mr Sandwich is something of a smart-alec.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/06/1 ... ternative/13) Mrs Sandwich reassures Grape about her husband's sense of humor.
Note: The phrase "I would assume you got that from him, but then again, you're a cat" seems to imply that either pets can "inherit" personality traits from their owners or that being a "rule breaker at heart" is expected cat behavior. Most likely a version of both; pets tend to model their behavior on the owners who raise them and rulebreaking is expected cat behavior.
14) Mrs Sandwich evidently does think of Grape and Peanut as surrogate children.
Note: The fact that a normal human could easily wind up raising five or more generations of surrogate "grandchildren", "great-grandchildren", and so on, and have to make end-of-life medical decisions, and either support or prevent large numbers of such children, probably calls for some practical adjustments to the surrogate parent-surrogate child relationship. Fortunately, humans have, throughout history, demonstrated repeatedly that they can easily manage such an attitude.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/06/1 ... lled-milk/15) Mr and Mrs Sandwich don't mind being visited by wolves.
Inference: The prejudice displayed towards Miles in the strips showing his first visit to the city evidently isn’t universal.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/09/2 ... er-danger/16) Jake, Jerry, and Mr Sandwich appear in the background here, apparently gaping at Pete.
Inference: They’re all concerned about Zachary (or at least Mr Sandwich and Jake are willing to get up in the night and stumble around helping Jerry out) and may be acting as the core of the search operation.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/11/25/whoops/17) According to the cast page, Mr. and Mrs. Sandwich moved into Babylon Gardens because they heard that the place was pet-friendly, and they’re both fond of animals. Mr. Sandwich works as an auto mechanic. According to other (and not necessarily canon) sources, they got pets because they didn’t feel ready to have children of their own yet.
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Bill:
1) Bill (Fox’s owner) first appears, with the literal "Motorcycle Bucket Seat" joke.
Inference: Bill isn’t a particularly sensitive individual, and doesn’t worry about embarrassing his pets. Personally, I’d suspect that that goes with being a policeman.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/12/17/lame-joke-83/2) Bill has a MANLY chin and leans very far forward on his motorcycle.
Note: Bill really seems to enjoy traveling by motorcycle.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/03/0 ... bike-ride/3) Bill seems to be competent as a policeman and as an investigator.
4) Bill is a motorcycle cop.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/1 ... sandpaper/5) Bill is commendably patient with the dognapers.
Inference: Bill may well feel that this pair is so incompetent that he doesn’t need to do much. If so, he turns out to be more-or-less right.
Note: Rick states in the commentary that Jake's hot-tempered behavior, self-centeredness, and attempts to get out of the consequences are personality traits reflected in his pets, Bino and Maxwell. He also notes that Bill is unlikely to go along with such attempts entirely. Evidently Bill takes his responsibilities as a policeman seriously.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/1 ... ringwheel/6) Bill is highly suspicious of wolves trying to live with humans, and of the garden party preparations.
Speculation: Possibly the gutted deer centerpiece tipped him off before the wolves (presumably) got rid of it.
7) Bill is, however, not willing to take preemptive action when his probable troublemakers prove to have very wealthy and influential patrons.
Inference: If the wolves hadn’t been licensed, and hadn’t obviously belonged to someone (or some group) who could easily afford a house, Bill probably would have taken action. It’s probably a good thing that the Milton Ferrets made sure all the details were covered (I'd guess by putting a lawyer on it).
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/10/1 ... y-officer/8) Bill does, however, continue to keep an eye on the situation. If it does turn into trouble, he's apparently going to be ready to deal with it.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/10/1 ... han-human/9) Bill is attending the party, and is quite honest about his original doubts and their cause.
Inference: Bill is used to just saying what he thinks. Given the housepets universe is full of things that can understand you, this may be very common (on the theory that there’s no point in trying to hide things) or very rare (on the theory that you can never afford an unguarded moment), depending on humanities general level of paranoia.
10) Bill likes very rare steak, and feels that anyone who cooks steak right is probably "classy".
11) Bill had apparently never thought that wolves could be "classy".
12) Bill has failed to notice that the steak apparently isn't cooked at all.
Inference: Bill is competent, but is perhaps less observant than he might be.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/10/2 ... eing-bill/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jake:
1) Jake (Bino and Maxwell's owner) is mentioned. He may be ashamed of Bino.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/09/0 ... cred-duty/2) Jake has put a shock collar on Bino.
Inference: Either Bino misbehaves spectacularly or extremely persistently, or shock collars are considered fairly normal methods of pet discipline.
Inference: Jake is either too busy, or too indifferent, to actually discipline Bino personally. Of course, he may have tried without much success; it IS Bino we’re talking about here.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/03/1 ... -reaction/3) Jake reacts to the phrase "I'm with PETA" with immediate violence.
Inference: Jake has probably had some personal bad experience with PETA that impairs his judgement, given that assault and battery is often good for some jail time. Even a hot temper usually calls for some personal affront to excite it.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/04/2 ... -violence/4) Rick notes in the commentary that Jake's hot-tempered behavior, self-centeredness, and attempts to get out of the consequences are personality traits reflected in his pets.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/1 ... ringwheel/5) Jake, Jerry, and Mr Sandwich appear in the background here, apparently gaping at Pete.
Inference: They’re all concerned about Zachary (or at least Mr Sandwich and Jake are willing to get up in the night and stumble around helping Jerry out) and may be acting as the core of the search operation.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/11/25/whoops/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerry:
Jerry is quite used to Tiger's misbehavior.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/11/0 ... bad-bunny/Jerry is quite concerned about Zachary, and presumably about his other pets.
Jerry seems to consider the pets adult associates, rather than surrogate children.
Jerry's pets do still seem to look to him to lead them though.
Inference: Jerry may not see the pets as “Kidsâ€, but he certainly seems to see them as dependent subordinates.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/11/11/key-phrase/Jake, Jerry, and Mr Sandwich appear in the background here, apparently gaping at Pete.
Inference: They’re all concerned about Zachary (or at least Mr Sandwich and Jake are willing to get up in the night and stumble around helping Jerry out) and may be acting as the core of the search operation.
Note: It would be interesting to know what they think of what they’ve seen. I doubt that the pets have kept it entirely secret either.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/11/25/whoops/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan:
1) Ryan (Fido's owner) first appears.
Note: Ryan appears to be pleased at Fido’s graduation from the police academy and doesn’t mind his pet working as a police dog. How this works is never explained: presumably the police cover the potential medical bills, uniforms, and so on, but whether Ryan or Fido are compensated for Fido’s services remains unknown.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/09/0 ... cred-duty/3) Ryan apparently finds the things pets get up to amusing.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/09/0 ... -constant/4) Ryan appears with his gaming group. They're playing D&D.
Inference: Judging by the conversation, this is a regular event.
Note: At least some of the gamers like to attempt rules exploits.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/02/1 ... mebreaker/5) Per the cast page, Ryan Byron just thinks that the antics of the pets are really amusing - and beyond that, it’s not a human matter, so who cares? Ryan is an R&D expert for a software firm.
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The
fat PETA guy: (For convenience, referred to henceforth as “FPETAâ€)
1) FPETA first appears, and immediately demonstrates that his belief-system is quite disconnected from reality.
Note: He continues to demonstrate that from this point on.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/04/2 ... ery-naive/2) FPETA expresses his disdain for legal methods and gets ready for a dognapping.
Inference: FPETA is quite incompetent. At a bare minimum, before starting on a plan - especially a criminal plan when you’ve already attracted notice in the area - any normal person would want to know what they were trying to do.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/0 ... n-strikes/3) FPETA demonstrates the ability to drag Joel around (not that this appears to be hard) but a reluctance to confront any pets he judges potentially troublesome.
4) FPETA continues to make decisions based on logical fallacies. Little or no valid reasoning appears to be involved.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/0 ... character/5) FPETA attempts to convince Fox of the advantages of being feral, but has enough connection to reality to realize that Fox does not agree - although he probably considers Fox brainwashed.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/0 ... the-world/6) FPETA demonstrates that his convictions apply only on the abstract level, not to any one animal in particular, by attempting to silence or smother Fox.
Note: Abstract causes tend to be extremely treacherous: they are usually so vague and ill-defined that they can be used to justify almost anything.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/1 ... sandpaper/7) FPETA is getting arrested in the background.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/2 ... at-driver/8) FPETA claims to have a glandular condition. A Joel and a policeman both seem to find this claim amusing.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/2 ... -year-one/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minor Humans:
1) A zookeeper appears here. He’s quite polite to the patrons, even if they are animals.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/10/2 ... et-buffet/1) A petstore clerk appears here.
2) He is not allowed to sell catnip to pets.
Inference: Human-style intoxicants, anise, and a variety of other animal-specific intoxicants probably fall under this ban as well - although at least the animal-only items are apparently freely available to humans who want to give them to animals.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/12/1 ... things-up/1) Aunt Claire is mentioned.
Inference: Aunt Claire is somewhat presumptuous: giving someone a new pet is assuming a lot in the real world, and a Housepets pet is an even more complicated commitment.
Note: Aunt Claire is mentioned again later in connection with Pap.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/12/2 ... s-edition/1) A male vet appears.
2) Despite Grape's childhood impressions, it seems unlikely that he is actually an eldritch abomination. It cannot, however, be ruled out.
3) Over the next several strips, it's demonstrated that his bedside manner isn't that hot.
Inference: he’s been like that for some time, and it’s probably why Grape has poor (if partial) memories of him. Of course, it could also mean that he IS an eldritch abomination, and doesn’t understand mortal life very well.
Nonsensical “Strip-I’d-Like-To-Seeâ€: Eldritch Abomination Vet versus Pete / Gaspar with King in the middle trying to make sense out of it. If someone wants to try it as fan art, I will applaud.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/01/2 ... -memories/1) A female vet appears. Her bedside manner is much superior to her male counterparts.
2) An veterinary orderly makes a brief appearance.
Inference: Some people, such as the male vet noted above, treat animals with a bare minimum of consideration, and most likely get poorer results for it. After all, if the Sandwiches asked Grape and Peanut “which vet would you like to go to next time?â€, which one would be more likely to get their business?
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/01/30/hello-vet/1) A gas station attendant attempts to enforce pet leash rules or laws.
Inference: He’s either petty, knows that the owner might watch the security tapes (presuming he's not the owner of course), or has had trouble with other animals in the past. I suspect pettiness, but other motives cannot be ruled out.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/06/1 ... ternative/1) Uncle Reuben and what are apparently his five children (of various sizes) appear here.
Inference: Reuben's cats and Rufus sleep in the barn to avoid an excess of affection.
Inference: Judging by appearances and the family name, Uncle Reuben is Mr Sandwiches brother. It could be some more complicated and distant relationship of course, but there’s no evidence of that.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/07/0 ... ill-exist/1) An unidentified policeman appears here.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/05/2 ... -year-one/1) The crazed hermit who speaks in limericks is seen for the first time here, although he was referenced in the earlier dream-sequence.
http://www.housepetscomic.com/2009/11/1 ... -favorite/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responses:
For Foldo:
The note on wolves in Paris was based on a documentary from a few years back which investigated the wildlife of Paris (primarily smaller species) and found a few wolves which regularly visited from the forested areas nearby to scavenge in the early morning hours. Given that there are several poorly fenced nature preserves within five miles of Paris, that slightly more than a quarter of France is forested, and that more than 7% of France consists of nature preserves, that seemed environmentally plausible. Wolves were believed exterminated in France at some point between from 1927 and 1939 (depending on the source consulted), however they have definitely been re-establishing themselves (primarily from Italy) since the late 1980's or early 1990's. (It is also possible that relict populations persisted during the intervening fifty to sixty years since there are plenty of feral dogs to conceal their presence). The specific animals in that documentary may since have proven to be transients, wolf-dog hybrids, or misidentified dogs, or they may have been eliminated, but I haven't run across any followup information. Ergo, this is the best data I currently have available. Yours may well be more current - after all, for all I know you live in Paris - but I can only work with what I've got.
Response Note: I feel that it’s rude not to make responses as complete as possible - but I do have a tendency to over-analyze everything (hence this thread). It’s been requested that I hold back on that - so this bit will be the last unrequested analysis-response. If someone wants to know the reasoning behind something, or wants something they’ve written either analyzed or included in an analysis, please ask for that specifically so I can avoid upsetting anyone (this is for fun after all). Otherwise, if you’ve spotted a typo, have information I missed, have a new inference, or have a new hypothesis, there will be thanks. 
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