First Click: Help this Chechen warlord find his lost kitty
May 24th, 2016
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Ramzan Kadyrov is the leader of the Chechen Republic. He’s widely regarded as a brutal, iron-fisted ruler, and his regime has been linked to torture and other human rights abuse. He also recently lost his cat.
Last week, Kadyrov took to Instagram to ask his 1.8 million followers to help find his cat, which he said went missing 10 days earlier. The cat is a toyger — a breed that resembles a “toy tiger” — and its owner said he and his family have "begun to seriously worry." (A toyger kitten can cost up to $1,500, according to The Guardian, which may explain some of Kadyrov’s anxiety.)
It’s weird because Kadyrov isn’t exactly a cuddly cat lover on social media. There are Instagram photos of him getting cozy with lions and non-toy tigers, but a lot of the others show him doing Manly Things like wrestling crocodiles, working out, and hanging out with other musclebound men. His admiration for Russian president Vladimir Putin, who appointed him, figures prominently as well.
The good news for Kadyrov (and his cat) is that the internet is now on the case. On his HBO show this week, John Oliver called on his followers to help find the cat by reporting any sightings under the hashtag #FindKadyrovsCat. People have since flooded Kadyrov’s Instagram and Twitter accounts to let him know whether they have (or have not) seen his cat, with some posting photos of what might be his cat.
i think he may have your cat. #FindKadyrovsCat @RKadyrov @LastWeekTonight @iamjohnoliver pic.twitter.com/0E9XeytzWm
— sunia (@suniamian) May 23, 2016
Kadyrov responded to Oliver on Instagram yesterday, and he doesn’t seem to have taken kindly to the joke. He posted a photoshopped image of the comedian wearing a Putin shirt, alongside a long, rambling caption that defended his pro-Putin, anti-US beliefs.
"Some people say that they saw the cat in Vladivostok, Japan, Iceland, New Zealand, and even in the Oval Office of the White House!" the caption reads. "I am grateful to all, but this is NOT my cat."
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