The Hounds


The Hounds


	
		
		
	
	



	
		Gender/Sex
	
	 and/or 



	
		Status
	
	



	
		First episode appearance
	
	Bart Vs. Thanksgiving



	
		First mentioned
	
	There's No Disgrace Like Home

“Release the Hounds!”

―Mr. Burns' catchphrase

History

The hounds are Mr. Burns' dogs. He continuously releases them on trespassers and people who irritate him. Mr. Burns has a button in his office for releasing them. Mr. Burns mostly releases them on his low level employees from the Power Plant, including Homer Simpson. Mr. Burns has released them on almost every member of the Simpsons family including Homer and Bart. There are 5-20 dogs in the group of both genders. One of the longest serving dogs is named Crippler. They have become a trademark and symbol of Mr. Burns' hate and power. In the episode Dog of Death, Santa's Little Helper was for a short time, one of the hounds. Although he generally releases them on people he hated, at times, especially if he was in a very pleasant mood, he only releases one hound to chase his guest out. One example of Mr. Burns only releasing one hound is in Thursdays With Abie.

They also appear in The Simpsons: Tapped Out when Mr. Burns walks them.

Notable Cases

In "Simprovised" Mr Burns instructs Smithers to release the Therapy Hounds instead of the regular hounds. This is due to Homer Simpson being traumatized. The therapy hounds consist of gentle poodles. This is shortly followed by the regular hounds being released.
In "The Princess Guide" Mr Burns replaces his hounds with small and gentle poodles due to bankruptcy from a previous episode.