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Downing Street gets new resident – a dog named Dilyn

<span>Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA</span>
Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

A momentary distraction from what is likely to be a hugely turbulent week in politics has arrived at Downing Street, in the form of a 15-week-old puppy.

The Jack Russell cross, which has been named Dilyn, was chauffeured into the prime minister’s residence in a different kind of red box on Monday morning.

The dog has been adopted by Boris Johnson and his partner, Carrie Symonds, from Friends of Animals Wales in Rhondda; it was abandoned by a puppy farmer because of its undershot and misaligned jaw.

The TV vet Marc Abraham, who has worked with the charity’s founder, Eileen Jones, said he made the couple aware of the shelter.

“It was important to shine a light on the work she’s doing,” he told the BBC. “It’s entirely voluntary with huge vets’ bills so they only rescue and rehabilitate the ones with the most problems.”

The arrival of the dog may come as a shock to 12-year-old Larry, the No 10 cat which has served three prime ministers.

However, according to Abraham, the puppy has been living in a foster home with a cat, is house-trained and “is doing the basic commands already”.

Under “Lucy’s law”, which is aimed at cracking down on puppy farms in England, the sale of kittens and puppies from third parties will be banned from next spring. The Welsh government has also confirmed it will adopt the law at a later date.