LONDON: Faced with a losing battle against mice, Downing Street has roped-in two more cats to the Cabinet Office.
Evie and Ossie are the latest recruits in the government's ongoing – and losing – battle against mice.
The black and white mother and son were rescued from the Celia Hammond Animal Trust and arrived in time for the Cabinet Office's centenary this week, The Sun reported today.
Evie is named after Dame Evelyn Sharp – the first ever female Civil Service Permanent Secretary.
And her boy Ossie is named after top civil servant E.C.B Osmotherly – an expert on Whitehall and parliamentary procedure.
No taxpayer money will be spent on the two furry friends, the report said.
So far they have shunned the limelight with only a sneaky snap of Evie surfacing after it was tweeted by a Whitehall chief.
A Cabinet Office said the two cats had been specifically chosen to avoid fights with the Whitehall tomcats.
No 10's famous Larry – the government's official Chief Mouser - has been locked in a vicious territorial war with Palmerston, the Foreign Office cat.