Our pets have a way of pawing their way right into our hearts and when they pass the grief takes us by surprise, it’s so raw. So we all feel a huge amount of empathy for Jacinda Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford, whose infamous cat Paddles was hit by a car and died on Tuesday.
Paddles, who was an SPCA cat, shot to fame after Ardern became Prime Minister, with Vanity Fair reporting on his fame and an article written about him in a Danish newspaper. Paddles even had his own Twitter account.
Today the account tweeted: “V sad PR Guy here. Tysm for loving Paddles, the whole world will mourn her. Not bad for a lil SPCA puss.”
People have responded asking where they can send Ardern and Gayford a card.
Before Paddles’ unfortunate end he managed to almost derail Ardern’s phone call from President Donald Trump, by leaping at the phone as Ardern took the call.
In a Facebook post Ardern has thanked people for their thoughts. She said, “To anyone who has ever lost a pet you know how sad we feel. Paddles was much loved, and not just by us. Thanks for everyone’s thoughts. And on behalf of Paddles, please be kind to the SPCA. They found her before we did, and we will always be grateful for that.
