Blue Peter pets

The exceptions were the dogs Petra, Shep and Goldie, who lived with Peter Purves, John Noakes and Simon Groom, respectively, for which the three presenters were paid a stipend for their upkeep.

Rags, a pony, named by viewers, was purchased with the proceeds of a Christmas appeal in the late 1970s as a Riding for the Disabled horse.

series, former presenter Peter Purves recalled that Biddy Baxter, the show's editor, had called him in floods of tears on the day that the first parrot Joey died.

For example, dog training items, tortoise hibernation, and cat care are often featured on the programme; however, the keeping of rabbits and mice was deemed not suitable as they do not live long.

It was later revealed that the original (unnamed) puppy had died of distemper a few days after her first appearance on Blue Peter, broadcast just before Christmas 1962.

[citation needed] Shep ( 1 May 1971 – 17 January 1987), a border collie, is widely considered to be the most famous Blue Peter pet; he was bought by the BBC to replace Patch, one of Petra's puppies, born in 1965.

Shep was bred by Audrey Wickham (née Hart), breeder of a number of notable pedigree border collies in the Sadghyl line.

Bonnie (3 February 1986 – 17 April 2001) was a female golden retriever dog who appeared on Blue Peter in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Bonnie appeared in 1,150 editions of the programme, alongside 16 different presenters, until she retired in 1999 to live with Leonie Pocock, her off-screen owner.

As Mabel's exact date of birth is unknown, her birthday was celebrated on 3 February, the same day as former Blue Peter dog Bonnie.

Her highlights whilst on the show included demonstrating her sheepdog skills and giving birth to a litter of puppies.

Meg left with Matt Baker in 2006, but also appeared in other television programmes he has been involved in, including the BBC's 2007 coverage of Crufts and Countryfile.

[citation needed] Barney is believed to be an Irish Setter/Dachshund cross[17] and officially joined the Blue Peter team on 22 September 2009.

Henry, a beagle/basset hound cross, made his first appearance on the show on 4 April 2019 and is the current Blue Peter dog.

The programme has had a long association with guide dogs, which stretches back to 1964—captivating millions of viewers and helping to transform the lives of thousands of visually impaired people.

The first Blue Peter guide dog puppy was Honey, whose training was charted by Valerie Singleton on the programme in 1964.

In December 1975 Jason played the part of the Cheshire Cat in the show's Christmas production, "Alice in Blue Peter Land".

Jack (29 January 1976 – 20 April 1986) was a silver striped tabby and the brother of Jill who made his television debut with his sister just three weeks after they were born.

Jack and Jill became known as Blue Peter's disappearing cats, for whenever they appeared on screen they tended to leap out of a presenter's lap.

The production team put together a sequence of clips demonstrating this, featuring various moments when the cats leapt out of sight.

[21] Willow, a Siamese × Balinese,[22] first appeared on Blue Peter in September 1986 as a replacement to Jack, who had died a few months earlier.

[23] Kari and Oke were rescued as kittens and placed in the care of Wood Green Animal Shelters in Heydon, Cambridgeshire.

Socks (born 29 November 2005, Hertfordshire) is a ragdoll cat, who first appeared on the show on 9 January 2006 as Smudge's replacement.

[26] Socks was at the centre of a scandal on the show after the programme's producers falsified the result of a viewer vote to choose the cat's name.

[27] Both Socks and Cookie stopped appearing regularly on the show after it moved to Salford in September 2011, and left permanently in October 2013 as it was felt that the journey from London, where they lived, was too far.

[29] Freda is best remembered for her appearances each year when she was brought onto the show and placed into a cardboard box to hibernate over the harsh British winter.

[30] Maggie and Jim (27 August 1974 – January 1982) were brother and sister who made their first appearance in 1974 and joined the show on a regular basis in 1979, after the death of Freda.

[31] George (c. 1920 – 10 May 2004) was a Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise who first appeared on the programme in 1982 and holds the title of longest-serving Blue Peter pet.

Thinking he had been killed, the production team broadcast a special tribute film about him, but George was found by a neighbour walking her dog some days later.

series, former presenter Peter Purves recalled that Biddy Baxter, the show's editor, had called him in floods of tears the day Joey had died.