British MPs procrastinate over setting cats to catch mice in House of Commons

Even though there is more than one mouse in the British House (of Commons), Westminster is being surprisingly pusillanimous on the issue of pest control. A little less than a year ago came the news that plagued by rodents, the British Parliament had sought a lowdown on the best mousers lodged in the nearby Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, to come to the rescue. It certainly made purr-fect sense at the time and was expected to be rat-ified forthwith. It is unfortunate that plans have gotten unstuck by the discovery that it would take far more than a couple of the most skilled moggies to put a stop to this parliamentary rat-race. Besides, as a 'herd' was mentioned as the necessary number needed when the word in English — the language that the former Empire gifted to the world, no less — for a posse of pussycats is 'clowder' or 'clutter', it may not be far-fetched to assume that the Commons may be inadequately informed about several other feline fundamentals as well.

With the authorities in New Delhi launching an ambitious plan to co-opt an abundant local resource — stray dogs — into their neighbourhood-level crime prevention strategies, the British Parliament's inability to effectively catenate their forces is unfortunate. More so as it is abundantly clear that any further pussyfooting will only make matters worse.