MacTavish pawed himself to work 24 hours a day, had never meowed for a holiday in four years and did not claw anyone over a pay packet, The Canberra Times reported on this day in 1974.

His only reward for his troubles was food and his keep. His job at the Kingston Mall Exchange was to keep away the greatest enemy, one which ate the mail. MacTavish was a four-year-old cat. His boss, the officer-in-charge of the exchange, John Kelly, said: "We have never had a rat or mouse here since MacTavish came as a kitten.

His position at the exchange as 'official scrutineer' entitles him to sleep on the mailbags and ride on the rejected-items elevator just to keep an eye on things."

MacTavish would eat only liver and drink only water, and insisted on being fed first thing in the morning. MacTavish had his own window which he used as the door to the premises. He was not inconvenienced at all by the backlog of mail. He just sat on top of the situation.

Visit: trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110785330

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: