Working Cats: Miscellany 6 — Political Felines

including
Tuxedo Stan and Earl Grey of Halifax, Nova Scotia
Morris of Mexico

Stubbs is not the only feline to have political connections.
There have been numerous cats in British political institutions such as Downing Street and
the Treasury; and a number also have resided in America's White House over the years.

Tuxedo Stan Halifax, Nova Scotia

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In Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada there is the Tuxedo Party, which according to the mission statement on their Facebook page '... is a political movement aimed to improve the welfare of felines in Halifax Regional Municipality (and around the world) "because neglect isn't working".' They had two 'spokescats': Tuxedo Stan and his brother, grey-and-white Earl Grey. Sadly Stan died of cancer on 8 September 2013 at the very young age of 3½; there are many comments on his passing, and a lot of other information, at their website (link below) from where the following summary of their activities is taken:

Links

Morris Xalapa, Mexico

Meanwhile in Mexico in July 2013, Morris the cat was claimed to have won 12,000 votes in the election for mayor of Xalapa, in the state of Veracruz, with his political candidacy that gained him headlines around the world. That was nowhere near enough to give the feline the mayoral job — but it did place Morris fourth in a field of 11 candidates in the race to run Xalapa, population 420,000. Morris earned more votes than the candidate from Mexico's most influential left-wing party, the PRD.

The idea of running a cat for mayor was devised a couple of months earlier by two recent university graduates, who said that they did not identify with any of the city's human politicians. On Facebook the grads joked that Morris would rid the city of its corrupt political 'rats', and said that voting for Morris would enable citizens to express their dissatisfaction with the city's rulers in an election 'that was already a joke'. Owner Sergio Camacho commented, 'He sleeps almost all day and does nothing, and that fits the profile of a politician.' The cat's candidacy was hugely popular online, and it prompted disgruntled citizens elsewhere in Mexico to nominate more animals for office.

Needless to say, Morris's campaign generated political controversy, but we don't wish to get too involved in Mexican politics. He couldn't be registered as an official candidate, not being human, and it seems likely that the 12,000 votes claimed came from those that had been counted as 'invalid'. Nevertheless, Morris's campaign team thanked their supporters online, and promised that the famous cat would not disappear from politics. His Facebook page, in fact, now advocates for a series of animal rights laws in Mexico.

Links