This is what the Post Office in Great Britain has done for almost 140 years. Cats have been employed to keep down the plague of mice and rats that attack the parcels at the Post Office. Many years ago it was common for people to send foodstuffs through the mail and this practice attracted vermin.

The system started informally with a few post office staff bringing in cats to catch the mice. Soon it was obvious that having a cat on the premises was a much more efficient way of dealing with the vermin problem than using traps or poison.

Of course, the Post Office was a bureaucratic organisation, so nothing could be done without the proper approval and lots of correspondence. The first three cats started work in 1868. They were put “on probation” like any other new employees and one shilling (now equal to about 60 cents TT )a week was provided as subsistence allowance for all three. As the years passed, the cost of living increased and the “wages” rose.

What had started as a small experiment in vermin control gradually expanded until a great many Post Offices had cats on the payroll.

So you thought all cats just lie around looking ornamental? Not so, some cats have had their names on the payroll!