Buster was a dog belonging to

Roy Hattersley Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, (born 28 December 1932) is a British Labour Party politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and served as Depu ...

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Buster was a

mongrel A mongrel, mutt or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized Dog breed, breed and including those that are the result of intentional Dog breeding, breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometime ...

, as his father was a

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for he ...

, and his mother a

Staffordshire Bull Terrier The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, also called the Staffy or Stafford, is a dog breed, purebred dog of small to medium size in the Terrier Group, terrier group that originated in the northern parts of Birmingham and in the Black Country of Staff ...

. He was a former rescue dog adopted by Hattersley from Brent Animal Shelter, in 1995. In 1996, Buster attacked and killed a goose in

St. James's Park St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous ch ...

, London. On 6 April, Hattersley was stopped and questioned by the police while returning home after walking Buster in the park. Buster was suspected of killing the goose, while not under Hattersley's control, and a quick check revealed blood around his muzzle. As the goose was located in a Royal Park, it was the property of

The Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

. The Royal connection, coupled with Hattersley's prominent public position, led to national media coverage of the incident. He was charged with contravening Regulation 3(5)(b) of the Royal and Other Parks and Gardens Regulations 1977. On 20 November 1996, Hattersley pleaded guilty by letter, and was fined £25 for letting Buster off the lead (although he claimed that Buster had pulled the lead out of his hand), and £50 for letting him kill the goose. The incident has been referred to in the media many times, both by Hattersley himself and by others, including his political opponents. Hattersley wrote a piece in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', sympathising with

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been sev ...

after one of her dogs had allegedly attacked a woman in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, and

Jeremy Paxman Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and television presenter. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate ne ...

mentioned the incident in a piece in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' which he wrote in response to comments Hattersley had made about the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. In 1998, Hattersley published ''Buster's Diaries (as told to Roy Hattersley)'' which were purportedly the dog's own thoughts on his life and relationship with his owner, and in which Buster was characterised as having acted in self-defense. Buster has also appeared on television numerous times, which includes a 2001 profiling on '' Star Pets''. Buster died in October 2009. Following his death, ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

E. J. Thribb E. J. Thribb is the fictitious poet-in-residence at the satirical magazine '' Private Eye''. The character was created in 1972 by Barry Fantoni, who wrote the poems until 2010, when he was succeeded by other staff members. Thribb's poems are usua ...

wrote a memorial poem for Buster.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buster (Dog) Individual dogs