A Twitter user has embarked on a bizarre mission to find out more information about one of Michael D Higgins dogs, Fred the Labrador.

It all began when Twitter user Rajiv (@jiffington) was looking through the Áras an Uachtaráin FAQ and came across this:

Okay, so i sent a letter to President Higgins to find out more info about Fred the Dog pic.twitter.com/OfiOtT5NMt — Rajiv (@jiffington) December 14, 2017

We all know and love Michael's Bernese Mountain Dogs but no one has seen this mysterious dog called Fred. Rajiv then decided to send this letter on to find out more:


Letter to President Michael D. Higgins regarding Fred pic.twitter.com/9sq0lXrRrE — Rajiv (@jiffington) December 14, 2017

To Rajiv's surprise, a representative for Michael D. Higgins replied to him straight away with this letter:

Christopher Duffin, the Secretariat for the president sent out a very informative reply saying that Fred was a rescue dog who lives with the Garda Mounted Unit and 'spends his days patrolling the grounds with members of An Garda Siochana'.

The Secretariat went on to say that Fred is notoriously difficult to photograph and even sent Rajiv a signed picture of the president.


This was a fantastic response but come on, we need to know more about Fred!

Twitter users then got on the case and eventually a couple of pictures of the elusive labrador started to surface.

Here's Fred at work:

Update: I just got sent footage of Fred via: @betaburns pic.twitter.com/XdIhzkdqCC — Rajiv (@jiffington) December 14, 2017

Then another came out of the woodwork to post an old photo of the little fella:

Update: we found Fred! (A source in the Aras says he's a few lbs heavier now, but here he is 🐶) pic.twitter.com/VfiSZGPb8n — Sarah Clayton-Lea (@SazzyClay) December 14, 2017


So we still don't have an updated photo of Fred but it's nice to know that the president's office will take each and every question seriously! Fair play to Rajiv for digging around.