Paddles, Arden’s cat, dies after being hit by car
Wellington: The first ever “First Cat of New Zealand” has died after being hit by a car near the prime minister’s home in Auckland.
When Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand’s new prime minister last month she also brought with her a polydactyl cat, named Paddles.
The cat had opposable thumbs and quickly became a social media presence.
Its @FirstCatofNZ Twitter account was started just days after Ardern was declared the prime minister-elect on October 19. The cat’s Twitterbio read: “Have thumbs, will tweet.”
Paddles was also responsible for nearly derailing Ardern’s first phone call with US President Donald Trump when the cat came into the lounge meowing loudly.
A spokesman for the prime minister said the ginger cat, adopted from the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), was hit by a car near Ardern’s Point Chevalier home and killed on Tuesday. The driver of the car told a local who then took the cat to a vet, the New Zealand Herald reported. The vet declared the cat dead.
Adern wrote on Facebook: “To anyone who has ever lost a pet, you’ll know how sad we feel. Paddles was much loved, and not just by us.”