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We all know Larry @Number10cat, the most loved civil servant in Britain.
But few realize the Chief Mouser tradition at 10 Downing Street goes back more than a century.
Here’s the story of the cats who came before Larry, the furry civil servants who shaped life at No. 10.
This week’s good furrends:
• @OKWildlifeDept celebrates Gar Week
• Runaway monkeys update
• Elephant rescue in Zimbabwe
• Lambert the penguin retires in style
• Italy bans finch hunting
• @ClassicFM has some classic tunes for your pets
Ladies and gentlemen, a newfoundland l̶i̶o̶n̶ dog with a fresh haircut
Furrend 🐾 retweeted
In the 1880s, a stray dog became the world’s most famous traveling dog.
His name was Owney, and he rode mail trains across the country, visited more than 220 cities over nearly a decade, and earned hundreds of medals, souvenirs, and even a permanent spot at the Smithsonian.
It’s true pets have an environmental footprint. But they also give more than they take AND they definitely don’t have private jets. Maybe we should start there.
The chase happened in Salesville, Ohio. Deputies Shayne Leggett and Andrew Daymut tried to corral the emu as dispatchers watched the chaos through cruiser and body cam feeds.
The bird was eventually caught with help from its owner. No injuries, just feathers and confusion.
🔗: abc7news.com/post/runaway-em…
Deputies in Ohio spent 45 minutes chasing a runaway emu through rural roads.
The emu was safely caught after dodging officers, and one of them said, “I guess I’ll fight him with a stick.”
As the department put it: “Just another day in law enforcement.”
Furrend 🐾 retweeted
I'm so sad. 8 months ago, Monster Biscuit was adopted. Today, he was returned for no fault of his own. He lived in a home for 8 months and now he's in a kennel, terrified, confused. I'm devastated. He needs a new home ASAP. Can you help? 💔
📍 SF Bay Area
From Treasury Bill to Larry, Chief Mousers have outlasted cabinets, crises, and countless headlines.
Prime Ministers may come and go, but the cats of Downing Street stay, keeping calm and carrying on.
We loaf you, Larry @Number10cat 🧡
Larry has seen six Prime Ministers come and go, befriended (and feuded with) Palmerston of the Foreign Office, and still patrols like he owns the place, which frankly, he does.
Then in February 2011, the day after Valentine’s Day, Larry arrived, adopted from Battersea under David Cameron.
For a while, he shared duties with Chancellor George Osborne’s tabby Freya, until she left Downing Street in late 2014.
After Humphrey’s retirement (reportedly removed by Tony Blair’s wife), Sybil, a Scottish cat belonging to Chancellor Alistair Darling, briefly took the role in 2007.
She became the second female government cat on record, and her expenses were fully covered by the Darlings.
In 1994, Humphrey made a duck “disappear,” then vanished himself, later found living at the nearby Royal Army Medical College.
He even “issued” a statement:
“I had a wonderful holiday at the Army Medical College, but it’s nice to be back.”
Humphrey arrived in 1988, named after Sir Humphrey Appleby from Yes Minister.
He cost the Cabinet Office £100 a year and became a tabloid celebrity, even accused (and cleared) in the case of the missing robin chicks.
Then came Wilberforce, adopted from an RSPCA shelter in 1973.
He served four Prime Ministers, including Margaret Thatcher, who once brought him a can of sardines from Moscow.
Officials called him “the best mouser in Britain.”
Peta earned five shillings a week but wasn’t exactly model staff, described as “loud, lazy, and not house-trained.”
She once fought the Prime Minister’s Siamese cat, Nemo, causing a minor diplomatic incident.
But the public adored her.
