Brexit is barking, say dog lovers marching for a 'people’s vote'

Hundreds of dogs and their owners marched in Westminster on Sunday afternoon ahead of the upcoming People’s Vote rally to call for a “Wooferendum” on Brexit.

Organisers of the mass dog walk, which culminated in a rally in Parliament Square, said they were “howling on behalf of the millions of people in the UK who believe Brexit is a huge mistake”.

The actor Peter Egan and the Labour MP for Walthamstow, Stella Creasy, spoke at the rally, as did the former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell.

“It’s a very British sort of thing – people love their animals and there are serious animal welfare concerns with Brexit. But the reason I wanted to come is that I do think the People’s Vote has got to happen,” said Campbell, holding his five-month-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Skye.

He confirmed it was Skye’s “first ever rally”, but said she would be attending the People’s Vote march with him on 20 October.

“The Brexit that is now on offer is so far removed from anything that was promised and, far from it being undemocratic to have a second vote, I think it’s undemocratic not to,” he said, adding that politicians were “scared” of holding a referendum on the outcome of Brexit negotiations.

“They know the will of the people is changing; if Theresa May can’t even unite her party around this vision of Brexit, how is she going to unite the country?”

Egan, who has five rescue dogs, said: “I think all the attention that can be brought to the question of Brexit, whether it’s lighthearted like today, the better.”

The 72-year-old said animal welfare was his passion, but he decided not to bring any of his dogs with him to the march, describing them as “hooligans”.

Protesters held signs reading “Time to Get Pawlitical” and “Brexit is Barking”. Several dogs were caught in the act of urinating on photographs of Nigel Farage, which had been taped to bollards along the route.

Tiffany Haynes, a dog walker from London, took her Welsh collie, Megan, with her to the march.

“I think this is a nice idea for a protest, it’s a clever way of doing it because dogs make light of politics and bring people together,” she said. “People can relate to each other more with their dogs.”