by Kim Krisberg
Funny cats and disaster preparedness. It s a marriage made in Internet heaven. Cats are all over the Internet, says Michele Late, coordinator of the American Public Health Association s (APHA) Cat Preparedness Photo Contest. And if cats are what people want, then marrying them with emergency preparedness seems like a smart fit.
Launched just after Labor Day weekend, APHA s cat photo contest takes its inspiration from the enormous popularity of an Internet meme known as LOLcats, in which yep, you guessed it people take funny photos of cats and photoshop them with funny text called LOLspeak. (The phenomenon began with a photo of a gray cat sitting on its hind legs with its mouth open and text that reads: I can haz cheezburger? If you re a cat lover, this is hilarious. Believe me.) Need more proof? The I Can Haz Cheezburger website has 24 million fans who share half a million photos every month.