Downing Street defends catnapping ‘mouser-in-chief’
UK: Downing Street defended its resident cat Larry on Monday after
British Prime Minister David Cameron reportedly flung a fork at a mouse
that had escaped the tabby’s attention.
The Daily Mail newspaper said Cameron saw the mouse during a dinner
with Cabinet colleagues at 10 Downing Street in central London and
hurled a silver folk at the rodent as it scuttled across the floor.
Larry was recruited from a strays’ home as Downing Street’s
“mouser-in-chief” in February after a rat was spotted in television news
bulletins scurrying around outside the famous black door of the PM’s
residence.
Asked whether Larry should resign, Cameron’s official spokesman said
only: “Larry brings a lot of pleasure to a lot of people”.
Cameron was dining with Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith
and Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson when the mouse appeared,
the Daily Mail said. Cameron’s fork missed the rodent and Duncan Smith
reportedly demanded: “Where’s Larry when you need him?”
In a June update, Cameron told the BBC that Larry had caught three
mice but was “not very keen on men”, despite him enjoying a stroke from
US President Barack Obama in May.
His first confirmed kill was in April, when he was also seen slinking
around the Cabinet table wearing a Union Jack bow tie to celebrate
Prince William’s wedding. But Downing Street insiders have hinted that
he was more interested in sleeping on the job than putting the
frightners on inner-city rodents.Larry’s predecessor was Sybil, who
moved in with then finance minister Alistair Darling in 2007 but
returned to Edinburgh after six months, having failed to settle in
London. London, Tuesday, AFP
|