Peter II (cat)
{{good article}}
{{Short description|Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office from 1946 to 1947}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Peter II
| office = Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office
| monarch = George VI
| primeminister = Clement Attlee
| term_start = December 1946
| residence = Home Office
| term_end = 21 June 1947
| term_label = In role
| predecessor = Nelson
| successor = Peter III
| occupation = {{wt|en|mouser|Mouser|italic=no}}
| birth_date = {{circa|{{Birth date|1946|10||df=y}}}}
| death_date = {{Death date and given age|1947|06|21|7–8 months|df=y}}
| death_place = Westminster, London, England
| death_cause = Struck by a car
| image = Peter II death letter.jpg
| caption = Government letter regarding Peter's death
}}
Peter II ({{Circa|October 1946}} – 21 June 1947) was a cat who was employed as the chief mouser to the Cabinet Office from 1946 to 1947, during the premiership of Clement Attlee. He was a two-month-old kitten when appointed to the role. Peter served just six months; in the early hours of 21 June 1947 he was struck by a car near the Cenotaph in Whitehall, and died shortly afterwards. He was succeeded by Peter III.
Life, career and death
File:Gebouwen op Whitehall In het midden de Cenotaph, Bestanddeelnr 254-1966.jpg in 1947, where Peter was struck]]
Peter was born {{Circa|October 1946}}.{{Cite book |last=Day |first=Christopher |title=Larry, the Chief Mouser and other official cats |publisher=Pitkin Publishing |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-84-165761-5 |location=Stroud, United Kingdom}} He was appointed chief mouser to the Cabinet Office in December 1946, when he was two months old, during Clement Attlee's premiership. His appointment occurred one month after Peter was euthanised on 14 November 1946 at the age of 17 owing to his no longer being an "efficient cat" and having "outlived his usefulness".{{cite web |date=4 January 2005 |title=Home Office cat history revealed |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4143423.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404202234/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4143423.stm |archive-date=4 April 2023 |access-date=17 February 2021 |website=BBC News}}
The young kitten served a truncated term; in the early hours of 21 June 1947, around six months after his appointment,{{Cite news |last=Fenton |first=Ben |date=4 January 2005 |title=Cats that left a mark in the corridors of power |language= |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4194725/Cats-that-left-a-mark-in-the-corridors-of-power.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=10 April 2018}} Peter was struck by a car driven by a "Mr. R. B. Bisgood" in Whitehall while walking from the Home Office to the Cenotaph, receiving "injury to the head, right shoulder and a lacerated jaw".{{Cite web |last=Day |first=Chris |date=7 June 2016 |title=The bureaucats at the heart of government |url=https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/bureau-cats-heart-government/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230706222627/https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/bureau-cats-heart-government/ |archive-date=6 July 2023 |access-date=30 June 2023 |website=The National Archives}}{{Cite news |date=3 February 2018 |title=Whiskers in the workplace: More cats with careers |language= |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-42737193 |url-status=live |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630233246/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-42737193 |archive-date=30 June 2023}} After the collision, a police constable brought Peter to the door of the Home Office building at 3:15 am, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was phoned five minutes later; their representative arrived on the scene at 3:35 am. Peter was "put to sleep" on the advice of the RSPCA attendant, with Bisgood paying 2s for the procedure. Speaking in 2017, Chris Day, the head of Modern Domestic Records at the National Archives, said that Peter "did not have the same illustrious career that his forebears did"; in 2022 the British magazine Tatler stated that "[h]ad he survived longer, no doubt his career would have been just as illustrious".{{Cite magazine |last=Coke |first=Hope |date=4 November 2022 |title=A Prime Minister's best friend! |magazine=Tatler |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/dilyn-the-dog-downing-street-pets-history |url-status=live |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327234754/https://www.tatler.com/article/dilyn-the-dog-downing-street-pets-history |archive-date=27 March 2023}} On 27 August 1947 he was succeeded by Peter III, who would serve as chief mouser for over 16 years.{{Cite web |last1=Day |first1=Chris |last2=Whitworth |first2=Carriane |date=29 March 2017 |title=Bureau-cats: A short history of Whitehall's official felines |url=https://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/bureau-cats/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230706223057/https://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/bureau-cats/ |archive-date=6 July 2023 |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=The National Archives}}{{Cite news |date=10 March 1964 |title=Home Office lose a hired killer.. |pages=3 |work=Daily Mirror |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-mirror/170422922/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=4 July 2023}}
See also
References
= Citations =
{{Reflist|25em}}
{{Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter II}}
Category:Individual cats in the United Kingdom