ASSOCIATED PRESS Julian Assange's cat, seen at a window of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2016.

Amid growing public concern for Julian Assange’s cat in the face of the WikiLeaks’ founder’s arrest, the organization has provided video evidence that the feline is alive and well. “We can confirm that Assange’s cat is safe,” WikiLeaks tweeted Saturday. “Assange asked his lawyers to rescue him from embassy threats in mid-October. They will be reunited in freedom. #FreeAssange #NoExtradition.”

We can confirm that Assange's cat is safe. Assange asked his lawyers to rescue him from embassy threats in mid-October. They will be reunited in freedom. #FreeAssange#NoExtraditionpic.twitter.com/zSo8RfXXc9 — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 13, 2019

The tweet accompanied a video of a cat that indeed looks very much like Assange’s pet, sitting in front of a TV playing footage of Assange’s Thursday arrest. The cat began living with Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London as a kitten in 2016. Assange told The New Yorker in a 2017 article that the tabby was a gift from his children, though an anonymous source told the outlet that Assange had fabricated that story. Either way, the cat temporarily developed a social media presence as “Embassy Cat” and was photographed through an embassy window wearing a tie on multiple occasions.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Based on photos, the cat had quite a collection of ties.

The cat ― or rather, Assange’s allegedly lax attitude as a pet owner ― was also one purported source of strife between the computer programmer and the embassy, according to an October report from The Guardian. Following Assange’s arrest, speculation swirled about the cat’s fate. Journalist James Ball tweeted that he had offered to adopt the cat, but the animal had been “reportedly given to a shelter by the Ecuadorian embassy ages ago.”

For the record: Julian Assange’s cat was reportedly given to a shelter by the Ecuadorian embassy ages ago, so don’t expect a feline extradition in the next few hours.



(I genuinely offered to adopt it) — James Ball (@jamesrbuk) April 11, 2019

But Hanna Jonasson, a member of Assange’s legal team, had tweeted back in November that Ecuador had merely “threatened” to send the cat to a shelter, and that Assange had subsequently given the cat to his lawyers to take to his family.

In the same document in which Ecuador threatened to hand Assange over for arrest, Ecuador also threatened to put Assange's cat in the pound.

Insensed at the threat, he asked his lawyers to take his cat to safety. The cat is with Assange's family. They will be reunited in freedom. pic.twitter.com/W9FvDbvQgw — Hanna Jonasson (@AssangeLegal) November 27, 2018