AMMAN, Jordan (Reuters) — Meet Lawrence of Abdoun, a furry feline who is the first “diplo-cat” to be appointed by the British Embassy in Amman.
Rescued from an animal shelter in October, Lawrence was chosen as the first overseas envoy to Palmerston, the chief mouser at the United Kingdom Foreign Office in London.
The black and white fur-ball is named after T.E. Lawrence – also known as Lawrence of Arabia – a British military officer who fought alongside Arabs in the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Abdoun is the neighborhood where the British embassy is located.
Laura Dauban, deputy ambassador of the United Kingdom to Jordan, said the diplo-cat has served to reflect a different side to Jordan.
“Apart from his mousing duties, he reaches out to followers on Twitter. What’s quite interesting is the British public are seeing the UK embassy in Jordan in a different light,” she said.
“Normally in the UK when you think of Jordan, they think of the Middle East, they might think of Syria or Iraq, but now they’re thinking of Lawrence of Abdoun, and through Lawrence’s Twitter account we’re trying to show a different side to Jordan, what it is really like, a peaceful, prosperous country that British tourists should come and visit,” she said.
The cat has created a stir on social media. In just over a month, he has amassed almost 2,500 followers. But fame also has its downfalls.
“He’s been a bit upset because some people have said he looked a bit fat in the last tweet he did, so he’ll be doing some exercises and posting to sort of rectify that situation. But generally it’s been really positive and it has been from all over the world,” Dauban said.
Embassy officials also hope Lawrence will inspire more Jordanians to adopt stray cats and other animals who need homes.