Larry, the 10 Downing Street cat CREDIT: PA
LONDON, ENGLAND – The Foreign Office is getting its own kitty to help them keep the rats, mice and other pests in Whitehall at bay.
Recruited from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, the cat, named Palmerston, will be joining the government department with the title of “chief mouser”.
The cat is apparently named after Viscount Palmerston, who was foreign secretary almost 200 years ago before he served twice as prime minister.
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman stated: “Palmerston is HM Diplomatic Service’s newest arrival and in the role of FCO chief mouser will assist our pest controllers in keeping down the number of mice in our King Charles Street building.
“Palmerston’s domestic posting will have zero cost to the public purse as a staff kitty will be used to pay for him and all aspects of his welfare.
Freya The Chancellor’s cat CREDIT: PA
“We have worked closely with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home on Palmerston’s deployment and they have inspected his new home, as they do for all potential new owners of their rescue cats.”
Palmerston will be in terrific company in Whitehall, living just yards away from Larry, David Cameron’s cat in Downing Street.
It is hoped Palmerston will fare better than Chancellor George Osborne’s previous mouser, Freya, who moved into 11 Downing Street with the family back in 2010.
She went missing in May 2014, turning up in Vauxhall which is a mile and a half away, before having to be taken to a vet three months later when she was struck by a car.
