It’s un-fur dismissal!
Council cat gets the sack after just a single complaint
FOR months she has been the ‘town cat’ of Tewkesbury and the local council’s ‘morale officer’.
But now Missy the moggy has been sacked – following an investigation sparked by a single complaint.
Former mayor Karen Brennan said staff spent too much time with the cat and claimed an allergic councillor complained.
After weeks of committee meetings and interviews with staff, a panel declared Missy to be officially unwelcome.
She is banned from the council’s offices, where staff have fawned over her since she started visiting a year ago.
The news has sent shockwaves through the council. Helen Railton-Price, the town clerk, said earlier this month: ‘I’m pretty sure one of my office staff members will leave if the cat is banned.’
Yesterday she said staff had not been told of the decision, adding: ‘The last information I had was that a “morale of office staff” committee was going to meet, interview staff and they would then give feedback to the “Cat H&S” committee.’ Missy’s supporters pointed out that former staff had been allowed to bring their dogs to work.
The final decision was made by councillors including Peggy Clatworthy, who became the town’s mayor last week. Miss Clatworthy said: ‘It’s not ours and we don’t know what injections it has had.
‘But the main reason for this decision is because we had an official complaint from one of the councillors who had an allergy to cats. We don’t know who else with an allergy might come in.’
Councillor Andy Smith, who was not involved in the final decision, said: ‘It does seem a bit of a storm in a teacup. There’s bigger things to worry about than a cat.’