In what appears to be a dramatic escalation of the proliferation of cat photos on the internet, three Australian developers have created an application allowing users to replace pictures of prime minister Tony Abbott with images of cute kittens.

An add on to the internet browser Google Chrome called Stop Tony Meow, built by Dan Nolan, Ben Taylor and Matt Kelsh, allows users who have grown tired of seeing stock footage of the prime minister to replace the photos with cats. It is the first recorded incident of an animal being used to replace a country leader, according to Internet searches.

In a Guardian Australia exclusive, one of the three creative minds behind the application, Dan Nolan, reveals the story behind the application and his plans for other prominent public figures.

Stop Tony Meow, as applied to Guardian Australia. Photograph: stop tony meow

Stop Tony Meow is an extension that replaces pictures of Tony Abbott with cats. Can you explain what made you decide to build it?

A few months ago Matt (@mattro) tweeted that he was "sick of looking at pictures of Tony’s face" and wanted to replace them with kittens. Ben Taylor (@taybenlor) put together a concept, and Matt asked me to build it into a browser extension. It was honestly just a little bit of fun that seems to have really resonated with people.

How does it work?

It’s a script that looks for the name "abbott" and then drops in a cute kitten photo from placekitten.com. It’s super, super simple and the simplicity seems to be why people are liking it so much.

Stop Tony Meow, as applied to The Australian website Photograph: stop tony meow

Why cats? Aren't there already enough on the Internet?

It’s not like there’s a level of saturation for them online. There can never be enough cats on the internet. We think of it as repurposing existing cat photos so that you can have a bit of joy brought to your day, instead of politics-linked stress. If you don’t like cats ... well, that’s your own personality failing, it’s not on us.

What other politicians would you like to see replaced with small domestic animals?

Well the obvious one is Pyne with poodles, everyone gets a laugh out of that one. Maybe Joe Hockey with a Slow Loris, Bill Shorten with a giant question mark and Tanya Plibersek with a sad broken computer.

Stop Tony Meow, as applied to the SMH website. Photograph: stop tony meow

Is there an endgame to Stop Tony Meow?



The demolition of the entire political artifice and replacing it with a kinder, gentler, cuddlier polity. Also way, way more pictures of cats. It’ll also make a lovely addition to our ASIO files.

What's your next project?

Ben is working on a game where you’re Australia, defending yourself against an influx of boats without getting tried for violating human rights. I’ll probably start crawling through the annals of past prime ministers to see if there’s any way I can piss them off.