Police forces have responded to an online craze showing Dr Seuss’ famous Cat in the Hat character on streets across the UK and Ireland.
Over the past week, mocked-up images and videos using AI have appeared on social media platforms that claim to show the figure based on Mike Myers’ 2003 film adaptation walking along roads, crouching on cars and peering into windows.
Often they are shared with a warning for the town or city, such as “lock your doors Sheffield / Manchester” and “spotted Whitby”.
One user on TikTok even created a statement, supposedly from South Yorkshire Police, which said officers were “aware of a number of reports regarding a suspicious figure described as a ‘cat in the hat’ seen walking in the Meadowhall area”, adding it was taking the matter seriously while asking everyone to remain vigilant.
However, the force has been quick to debunk the fake.
A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson told The Independent: “To confirm, we have not had any reports of a cat in a hat in Meadowhall, or anywhere else in South Yorkshire for that matter.
“We can also confirm no recent sightings of his associates Thing One and Thing Two. On a serious note, if you do see posts online providing policing updates and advice, please check that they are from an official policing account.
“The cat is not out of the hat on this one… we don’t have a new account or a new logo. Please don’t believe everything you read on social media.”
Sightings have also been reported of the Cat in the Hat character in Lowestoft in Kent, Stroud in Gloucestershire, and Leeds in Yorkshire.
More sinisterly, a post on Facebook asks users if they have seen the “killer Cat in the Hat”. Another shows the character chasing a person down the street.
The issue has alarmed some people, with the BBC reporting that teenagers have decided not to go out at night as a result of the rumours.
Skye, aged 16, said: “I was having a sleepover but everyone started watching Cat in the Hat videos. It was 3am. I wanted to go home. When I started walking down my friends’ driveway, I got totally freaked out that the Cat in the Hat was going to jump out. I had to call my mum to pick me up.”
The viral posts have also been centred on Limerick and Wexford in Ireland.
In response, the local Gardaí [police] posted on Facebook: “In an unusual turn of events, we are hearing a lot about an elusive Dr Seuss character doing the rounds online, apparently causing havoc in neighbourhoods and towns across the country.
“Fortunately, we can rule out the issue, which is essentially an AI prompt that places the character into images/videos of familiar places. To be clear, the Cat in the Hat was not in your driveway while you were out and he is not currently hiding out in Curracloe.”
TikTok and Meta have been contacted for comment.
The viral posts on social media come amid a more dangerous trend on platforms of of wrong-way driving videos. Earlier this month, five teenagers died in a crash in Kildare in Ireland after a car was struck by another vehicle driving the wrong way on a motorway.
Seven people died on Saturday, including two police officers, after a head-on crash involving a car being driven the wrong way down the A66 near Middlesbrough. The police watchdog is investigating but it is not yet clear whether the men driving the vehicle were following the trend.
On Monday morning, defence minister Luke Pollard said social media companies should take down content featuring people driving the wrong way down roads.
