Two weeks ago, before he and his cat gained international fame, Dave Kempas just wanted to crack 100 likes.
The Facebook page hed set up for his kleptokitty, Tigger, was stuck at 96 followers and Kempas a West Linn Police sergeant thought 100 fans would be a nice milestone. For the past two years, hed used the page to share surveillance photos of Tigger carrying all sorts of stolen items everything from trash to socks and even a bag of marijuana.
It was a simpler time; call it B.V. or Before Viral.
When Kempas was pining for 100 likes, he had no idea that his page was about to blow past that number and, quite literally, travel around the world. Shortly after an article about Kempas and Tigger appeared in the Tidings Sept. 10, the story was picked up by a number of local news outlets and within days had spread everywhere from Poland to China, Italy and Hungary.
As of Sept. 21, the Happy Kleptokitty Facebook page had 16,353 likes.
Its actually been a lot of fun, Kempas said. My wife and I havent laughed so much in years.
While many news outlets simply republished the local news articles, a few others contacted Kempas personally.
A TV station from Poland contacted me about doing an update, he said. I was contacted by Los Angeles radio, and did a live on-air interview for L.A. radio. And Bill Prescott who used to be one of our police dispatchers I did an interview with him this morning.
Most meaningful to Kempas, however, have been the thousands of message hes received through the Facebook page.
Ive had thousands of messages on Facebook and all have been positive, he said. People said its refreshing to read something positive in the news, a story that warms their heart or reminds them of their own cat that used to do things like that.
Speaking slightly more than a week after the story went viral, Kempas said the attention was beginning to die down a bit. But the Facebook following continues to grow, steadily, and Kempas said he was amazed by the power of the Internet.
I was aware that the Tidings article would come out and I thought it would be the end, Kempas said. I never considered that TV would pick it up, and have it snowball. Its really interesting to see how times have changed, in that the Internet is the major source of news around the world.
A small town newspaper can have an impact and cause a news story to literally go around the world, and thats what it did.
As for Tigger? Hes been quiet lately, perhaps shy in the face of a global spotlight.
Hes been parked on the couch, but hes starting to go back outside again, Kempas said. He was out last night on the cameras, but he didnt do anything.
Tigger generally keeps his kleptomania in check during the rainier winter months, but now he has customers to please 16,353 of them, to be exact.
Hes got a worldwide following now, Kempas said. So he has to start producing.
Patrick Malee can be reached at 503-636-1281 Ext. 106 or pmalee@westlinntidings.com.
