§ 82. Mr. Peter Freemanasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to an initiative test instituted recently at Portsmouth for the purpose of training whereby it was required to produce, inter alia, a cat and 133W take it to H.M.S. "Vernon"; whether he is aware that a ginger cat was stolen from Michael Osborne which has not been returned to him; and whether he will give instructions that no such tests involving the stealing of animals will be repeated.
§ Commander NobleNo tests are set involving the stealing of animals. An exercise to test initiative, included in a programme of serious drills, involved the search for a variety of objects including a cat, all of which were to be found in H.M.S. "Vernon." There was no intention that a search should be made outside the establishment; this was however misunderstood. The cat was returned, within half an hour to the place where it was found, but unfortunately did not return to its owner. I much regret any distress that has been caused; the owner of the cat has been good enough to say that he regards the matter as closed.