Humphrey, cat of scandal, dies

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-20T085452Z_01_L20364904_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-CAT.xml&archived=False


LONDON (Reuters) - Humphrey, a stray cat who wandered in to the official residence of the prime minister in 1989 and caused a scandal when he "retired" in 1997, has died, a spokesman for Tony Blair said on Monday.

The black and white one-time "mouser in chief" was perhaps the most famous pet in a country of animal worshippers.

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He had wandered into No. 10 Downing Street under Margaret Thatcher and remained throughout the tenure of John Major. But he was sent away to live with a civil servant in "retirement" months after Tony Blair was elected in 1997.

At the time, Conservative opponents accused Blair of having Humphrey put down because the new prime minister's wife Cherie didn't like the cat. Questions were raised. Fur flew.

Cherie should have been euthanized!

It is said that Humphrey kept the rats out of Number 10, with him gone, the rat Blair has been free to soil the PM's residence.

by the Al-Fayed family, in exchange for stepping forward with their testimony.

Blair's office said late Sunday that Humphrey died last week at the home of a civil servant who had adopted him.

The black-and-white stray wandered into Downing Street in 1989 when it was occupied by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He was named in honor of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Machiavellian civil servant in the sitcom "Yes, Minister."

He remained under Thatcher's successor, John Major, but moved shortly after Blair took office in 1997, prompting a Conservative lawmaker to ask in the House of Commons for assurances the feline was still alive.

Blair's wife, Cherie, denied reports her dislike of cats was responsible for Humphrey's eviction. Officials said Humphrey was suffering from a kidney problem and needed a quieter home in the suburbs.

In his heyday, Humphrey appeared regularly in the media, and once narrowly avoiding being squashed under the wheels of former President Clinton's bulletproof car.

http://www.comcast.net/news/international/index.jsp?cat=INTERNATIONAL&fn=/2006/03/20/349515.html&cvqh=itn_cat

Speaking of Clinton, whatever became of Socks the cat?