Grumpy Cat, the cantankerous cat with a permanent scowl and more than 7 million Facebook likes, will grace Berkeley with her presence for the first time this Saturday afternoon.
Arguably the most famous cat on the internet, Grumpy Cat will be present for Berkeley Humane‘s ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new mobile animal adoption center at 2700 Ninth St. at noon. After the ceremony, Grumpy Cat will have a private photo session with her fans at 1 p.m. The event has already sold out.
After Grumpy Cat challenged her fans with a #GrumpyTownUSA contest following the launch of her second book “The Grumpy Guide to Life” (both books are New York Times bestsellers), Berkeley Humane led a campaign with support from Mayor Tom Bates, the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce and the Berkeley Police Association to bring Grumpy Cat to Berkeley.
“We are just big fans of dogs and cats, and so we have an appreciation for Grumpy Cat,” said Sherry Liu, marketing manager for Berkeley Humane.
For the uninitiated, Grumpy Cat — her real name is Tardar Sauce — quickly became internet-famous when she was 5 months old with a 56-second viral video. Born with an underbite and feline dwarfism which gives her the grumpy look, Tardar Sauce’s demeanor launched a merchandising line and a Lifetime movie, which came out last November.
The mobile adoption center is a custom-built RV designed to bring animal adoption opportunities to Berkeley residents, wherever they may be.
“The mobile adoption center is an amazing addition to our operations,” Liu said. “We want to bring the dogs and cats to the people.”
Berkeley Humane asks its fans — both during the public ribbon-cutting ceremony and the private photo session — to turn off the flash options on their cameras, and not touch Grumpy Cat to avoid making her, well, more grumpy.
Seung Y. Lee is a journalist who has previously worked at the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and the Daily Californian.
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