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Humphrey (Cat)

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Animal

The Resume

    (circa 1988-March 2006)
    Born in United Kingdom
    Mouser at the Prime Minister's residence, Number 10 Downing Street (1989-97)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was accused of killing four robin chicks nesting outside Prime Minister John Major's window (June, 1994) and savaging a duck in St. James Park (September, 1994).
    He went missing for three months and was declared dead by the press office before turning up at the Royal Army Medical College, where he had been taken in as a stray (1995).
    In response to rumors of bad blood between the cat and Tony Blair's wife Cherie, a spokesman declared that Number 10 Downing 'is Humphrey's home and, as far as the Blairs are concerned, it will remain his home.'
    He then retired six months later, officially for health reasons.
    Conservative MP Alan Clark accused the Blairs of having had Humphrey shot.
    To settle the issue, a group of journalists were taken to a secret location in London to see the cat, and ran pictures of Humphrey posing with the day's newspapers (November 24, 1997).
    No doubt coincidentally, another cat would not be appointed mouser until Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was named after the character Humphrey Appleby from the sitcom 'Yes Minister.'
    Major defended him on the charge of killing the robins, declaring 'I am afraid Humphrey has been falsely accused.'
    Despite suspicions about the timing of his retirement, he had been suffering kidney problems since 1993, when he was put on a special diet and staffers were banned from feeding him treats.
    He cost 100 pounds a year for food, making him a much better bargain than the government's official pest controller who charged 4,000 pounds a year and reportedly never caught a mouse.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 11 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 21 Votes: 4.76% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 39 Votes: 12.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 100 Votes: 42.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 24 Votes: 45.83% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 76 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 38 Votes: 39.47% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 142 Votes: 37.32% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 109 Votes: 33.94% Annoying