Despite the fact that animals cannot officially run for office, people have responded in large numbers to the social networking movement to have the feline elected as mayor of the East Mexican city of Xalapa. Morris will obviously not appear on the ballot, but campaigners are urging voters to write down his name or draw a picture of a cat themselves.

Orchestrated by Morris’ owner Sergio Chamorro, the ‘campaign’ has attracted attention through slogans such as “Yes We Cat”, “Sick of voting for rats? Elect a cat!” and “Stay calm and vote for candidate Morris”. Morris’ Facebook page has attracted three times the ‘likes’ of the most popular human candidate Americo Zuniga.

People in other Mexican cities have been inspired by the Morris campaign, and donkeys, chickens and dogs are among the other animals being promoted as the future of Mexican politics.

While the campaigns are being run with tongue-in-cheek, they are also intended as a form of protest. There is a growing public disillusionment towards politics in Mexico as a result of widespread corruption and the major social problems facing the country. Although election campaigners are urging the public to not spoil their votes, it is likely many frustrated voters will opt for the feline candidate over the human ones. 

Although the concept of a kitty politician may seem too absurd to be true, a cat named Stubbs has been the honorary mayor of a tiny Alaskan town since 1997.

You can see some of the images from the campaign on Morris’ Facebook page.