Yahoo News Cat in bag spotted at polling station in Gateshead as North East heads out to vote
Dogs at polling stations have become a staple of election days since the birth of Twitter, but other animals are a lot further and fewer between.
However, one Gateshead woman hoped to change that on Thursday morning by taking her moggy to the polls. Amy Rogerson, 29, took her three-year-old ginger tabby Robin to Shipley Art Gallery, one of the region's more unique polling stations.
Robin was pictured outside the station in his cat carrier after taking a break from hunting birds and mice and being generally dismissive of humans to accompany Amy to the polls. However, she insists that taking her cat was not a paw-litical statement.
Amy told ChronicleLive: "Every time I vote I look online and I see all the dogs and I thought you know what? Let's hoy the cat on and we'll see if we can change it up a bit."
"I'd love to see more cats at polling stations, there are so many dogs."
Copywriter Amy also had a practical reason for taken her cat to vote, adding: "His vet is right next door, so it was also two birds with one stone!"
So far, 2024 has been quiet for dogs at polling stations in the North East, though three-year-old Labrador Rory waited patiently outside Fulwell Mill for his owners, as did Patterdale Terrier Loki in Whitley Bay.
Polling stations are open until 10pm tonight. Please remember to take voter ID to your polling station.
