Το βρετανικό υπουργείο εξωτερικών προσέλαβε τον πρώην άστεγο γάτο Palmerston ως κυνηγό ποντικιών και έτσι από εκεί που ήταν παραπεταμένος και πεινασμένος, ο εν λόγω γατούλης βρέθηκε καλοταϊσμένος και με απασχόληση… Θα έχει δε την τιμή να περιπλανιέται ανάμεσα σε υπουργούς και διπλωμάτες στο κτήριο του Λονδρέζικου foreign office και όχι μόνον, αφού του αρέσει να του χαϊδεύουν το πηγούνι, θα απολαμβάνει και τα χάδια των υπαλλήλων του κτηρίου!
Έγινε γνωστό ότι ο γάτος δεν θα επιβαρύνει τον αγγλικό κρατικό προϋπολογισμό για την σίτισή του! Το όνομά του το πήρε δε από τον πρώην πρωθυπουργό, Λόρδο Πάλμερστον.
Αυτός ο γάτος δεν είναι ο μοναδικός υψηλόβαθμος γάτος της Αγγλίας. Ο Λάρι, ένας άλλος γάτος, είναι ο επίσημος κυνηγός ποντικιών της Dawning Street!
Foreign Office recruits cat Palmerston as ‘chief mouser’
Larry, the 10 Downing Street cat
The Foreign Office is getting its own cat to help keep the rats, mice and other pests in Whitehall at bay.
Recruited from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, the moggy, named Palmerston, will join 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 twice serving as prime minister.
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said: “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.
“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 good 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 cat, Freya, who moved into 11 Downing Street with the family in 2010.
She went missing in May 2014, turning up in Vauxhall a mile and a half away, before having to be taken to a vet three months later when she was knocked down by a car on Whitehall.
Also see Palmerston the cat arrives for work at the Foreign Office