Dilyn’s in the dog house again... for eating Larry the cat’s food
FOLLOWING a string of canine controversies, prime-ministerial pooch Dilyn seems to be having a dog’s life in Downing Street.
Unfortunately, his latest escapade is unlikely to make him the cat’s whiskers either.
Boris Johnson’s Jack Russellcross has been caught sneaking into the room where fellow pet Larry the cat’s food bowl is kept – and gobbling up the contents.
Larry’s career as mouser-in-chief at No10 has won him praise – but Dilyn has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Last month, the Prime Minister complained that the rescue dog had been exercising its romantic urges ‘on people’s legs’ in Downing Street. He asked dog handlers on a visit to Surrey Police HQ if they had to deal with the ‘romantic urges’ of a German Shepherd named Zorro.
After being told Zorro behaved impeccably, Mr Johnson shook his head and said: ‘My dog is endless... on people’s legs.’
Dilyn is also said to have urinated on an aide’s handbag and destroyed antique furniture at the PM’s country residence, which left Mr Johnson with a sky-high repair bill.
Former aide Dominic Cummings told MPs that at the height of the pandemic Mr Johnson’s partner Carrie demanded that No10 rebut press claims that she wanted to get rid of Dilyn. A Downing Street insider has now said Dilyn has been seen eating Larry’s food several times – although his behaviour is thought to have improved recently. However, a Government source insisted the allegations were ‘totally untrue’.
A biography of Larry on the Government website says he has made a ‘significant impact’ in the decade since he was brought in to tackle No10’s mouse problem.
It notes that he ‘captured the hearts of the Great British public and the press teams often camped outside the front door’. ‘In turn the nation sends him gifts and treats daily,’ it adds.
Dilyn was brought into No10 as a puppy by Mr and Mrs Johnson in 201 . He recently gained a playmate after Chancellor Rishi Sunak bought a Labrador puppy named Nova. A source said Nova and Dilyn met for the first time last week in the Downing Street garden and ‘got on famously’.