Pearls' style and humor are inspired by several comic strips, chief among them being Peanuts, Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County and The Far Side. Aiding Pastis in the artistic elements of the strip was Darby Conley, creator of the comic strip Get Fuzzy. When Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert and supporter of the strip, told his fans about 'Pearls Before Swine', interest skyrocketed, and the strip was taken to print. However, Amy Lago, an editor at United Media, saw the strip's potential and launched it on the United Media website in November 2000 to see what kind of response it would generate. Several expressed interest and about three accepted it, but they could not convince their sales staff that it was marketable. In 1999, he submitted Pearls Before Swine to syndicates. The title character of Rat would later become one of the main characters in 'Pearls Before Swine.' The 'Pearls' character of Pig also came from a failed strip called The Infirm, about a struggling lawyer. In law school, he became so bored during classes, he started to doodle a rat, eventually casting it in a non-syndicated comic strip he called Rat. Prior to creating Pearls Before Swine, Pastis worked as a lawyer in California.

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The strip has become somewhat controversial due to its use of adult humor, mock profanity, violence, drinking and drug references and a few references to Middle-Eastern terrorism. As of September 2011, the strip was appearing in 650 newspapers worldwide. On January 7, 2002, it began running in Over 9,000 papers. United Feature launched the strip in newspapers beginning December 31, 2001, in The Washington Post. Its popularity rose after Dilbert creator Scott Adams, a fan of the strip, showed it to his own fans. Although created in 1997, it was not published until 2000, when United Feature Syndicate ran it on its website. Pastis has said each character represents an aspect of his own personality and world view. It chronicles the daily lives of four anthropomorphic animals, Pig, Rat, Zebra, and Goat, as well as a number of supporting characters.

Pearls Before Swine is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Stephan Pastis, who was formerly a lawyer in San Francisco, California.

(left to right) Junior, Goat, Guard Duck, Pig, Stephan, Rat, Larry, Snuffles, Zebra, Danny Donkey

Pearls before swine pastis