1. Stationmaster Tama, the head of Kishi Train Station in Japan.
2. And Tama's two trusty assistants, Miiko...
3. ...and Chibi.
In 2007, Tama and his assistants took over the day-to-day operations of the Kishi Station in Kinokawa, Wakayama, Japan. They don't really run the place, to be completely honest — they more just lie around the station wearing little train conductor uniforms, which is as equally amazing, if you ask me. The popularity of Stationmaster Tama and his faithful assistants rejuvenated the once failing train station, making it a huge tourist destination. Oh, also, the station they work at is shaped like a cat.
4. PC Tizer, The Railway Cat of King’s Cross.
PC Tizer is the Chief Mouser of King's Cross rail station. He was adopted by British Transport Police in 2007 and they say that he's an "essential" member of their team. He has total access to all areas of the station and even has an office.
5. Morris The Cat, the 9Lives spokescat.
Morris is an advertising mascot for 9Lives cat food, and boy does he know how to rock a pair of sweet shades. There have technically been three different Morrises over the years :( but let's not talk about that. A cute story about Morris: When Bud Light marketing dog Spuds MacKenzie passed away in 1993, Morris was quoted by People magazine as eulogizing his fellow spokes-animal by saying "meow." What a world.
6. Tuxedo Stan, founder of the Tuxedo Party of Canada, Canada's first political party for cats.
Tuxedo Stan is the first of many politically active kitties on this list. He's run for mayor and worked as a mascot for a political movement aimed to improve the welfare of felines in Halifax Regional Municipality. Sadly, Tuxedo Stan passed away recently and his brother Earl Grey has taken over for him.
Some of the other pussies drawn to public service include...
7. Morris, the cat who ran for mayor in Mexico.
8. Stubbs, the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska.
9. Humphrey, the first and most famous mouser of the London prime minister's residence.
10. Larry, the mouser to the Cabinet office who took over after a short-lived interim mouser named Sybil.
11. And Freya, who replaced Larry, because Larry was way too lazy to be Chief Mouser. Here's Freya on the job, hanging out with Carley Rae Jepsen.
12. Lemon, official member of the Kyoto Police Dapartment.
Lemon became a police officer one day after he wandered into the station off the street, obviously drawn by a calling to serve his local community. He now wears an adorable little uniform and actually goes on calls with the other officers at Kyoto's Yoro Station, putting witnesses at ease.
13. Matilda, current feline hostess of New York City's Algonquin Hotel.
in the 1930s, a cat wandered into New York City's famous Algonquin Hotel and pretty much took over the place, as cats often do. That started a tradition at the hotel that has lasted through the ages, which appoints a cat to roam the halls, mousing and just generally making sure everything is in order.
14. Kuzya, assistant librarian at the Novorossiysk Library in Russia.
Kuzya lives in Russia and wears a bow tie and works in at the Novorossiysk Library. He's another cat that just wandered in off the street one day and decided he liked where he was and humans be damned if he wasn't going to hang around. He recently received an actual documented promotion to assistant librarian because he was doing such a good job.
15. Sable, Enterprise Middle School's crossing guard.
Save your "black cat crossing the road" jokes for a cat that has the time. Sable's too busy to listen to your quips because she's looking after a whole middle school of tweens, making sure they get to where they're going safely. Sable is an older, no-nonsense 15-year-old black cat that comes out every day to the street corner and makes sure everything goes smoothly.
16. Millie, Bandai's warehouse security cat.
Lastly, we have Millie. Who wears a tiny badge. Look at it. Bandai UK's warehouses hold a lot of very valuable toys, like Power Rangers and Thundercats, and someone has to make sure rodents don't eat through their boxes. That's where faithful Millie comes in. Armed with a keen eye and the aforementioned tiny little badge, Millie makes sure Bandai UK's employees can sleep soundly at night.