Tewkesbury's 'Town Cat' banned from council offices
'There are issues of health and safety, insurance, security'
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Tewkesbury's "morale officer and town cat" has been barred from the Town Hall, after complaints from councillors.
Missy, who lives with her owner next door, has been paying regular visits to the building since last summer.
But the creature, who is listed on the Gloucestershire town's website as its 'morale officer’, has been banned from the building.
A special panel was set up to consider Missy’s future after former Mayor Karen Brennan raised concerns that Missy could be a danger to those with asthma and allergies.
She told the Radio 4 Today Programme a councillor who uses an inhaler had lodged an official complaint about the cat.
“An office is somewhere for business to be transacted and we don't need a cat around - there are issues of health and safety, insurance, security,” she said.
She was also concerned the cat might get into fights with dogs who occasionally visited.
The town’s new mayor, Peggy Clatworthy, agreed with her predecessor that the cat should be barred from the offices.
“It’s not ours and we don’t know what injections it has had”, she told Gloucestershire Live.
However, another member staff told the local paper of her disappointment at the panel’s decision.
“It’s just silly. They said previous people owned their dogs and we don’t own Missy,” she said.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments