Blue Peter pets first "Blue Peter" dog whose death was not mentioned on the programme. Barney is believed to be an Irish Setter/Dachshund cross and officially joined the "Blue Peter" team on 22 September 2009. He is the show's ninth dog. Barney is a former stray and was given to presenter Helen Skelton by the Dogs Trust. Barney left the show along with his owner Helen on 26 September 2013. 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
A. A. Gill that he shot a baboon dead, prompting outrage from animal rights groups. "I know perfectly well there is absolutely no excuse for this", he wrote, and that he killed the animal to "get a sense of what it might be like to kill someone, a stranger". He went on to state, "[T]hey die hard, baboons. But not this one. A soft-nosed .357 blew his lungs out". In a review of Clare Balding's 2010 "Britain by Bike" TV programme, Gill referred to the presenter as "a big lesbian" and "a dyke on a bike". Gill's "Sunday Times" editor, John Witherow, responded