There are few fixtures in British politics these days but Larry the cat is one of them. The Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office has become something of an ornament of the constitution, serving for a decade with distinction under three Prime Ministers and three Cabinet Secretaries. Residing in No. 10 Downing Street, the feline phenomenon is tasked with ridding Boris Johnson’s home of pests, with the government’s own website listing Larry’s responsibilities as resolving ‘the mouse occupancy of the house.’
But now could that all be about to change? When Parliament returns next month, peers will have to resume scrutiny of the government’s controversial Animal Sentience Bill, which is set to create a powerful super committee to scrutinise the impact of all UK policy on creatures judged to be ‘sentient.’ Fears have already been raised in the House of Lords about what this committee would mean for those in pest control, given the tendency of such committees for ‘mission creep’ and the likely members of it.
Already the influential Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) – which counts Carrie Johnson and environment minister Lord Goldsmith among its patrons – has pushed for octopuses and lobsters to be included
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