Huskies, Chihuahuas, boxers and beagles — and even a lumbering Leonberger — joined a “Wooferendum march” in central London on Sunday as their pro-European owners called for a new people’s vote on Brexit.
The gathering commanded politicians, actors and activists, accompanied by hundreds of four-legged friends, all united in their opposition to Britain’s departure from the EU in March next year.
“We will not roll over ... it’s time for the Wooferendum,” said Labour Member of Parliament Stella Creasy, a self-confessed cat — not dog — owner, in a pun-laden speech. “Go fetch people: Get Britain a better future.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
The dog parade — which drew pooches and people from far beyond the capital — took place two weeks before a larger pro-referendum rally planned for Oct. 20.
“I do think we’ve got momentum,” Alastair Campbell, a former Labour government spokesman and people’s vote campaigner, said alongside his five-month-old cavalier King Charles spaniel, Skye.
“In a campaign, use whatever you can that helps,” he said ahead of Sunday’s pet prelude. “Today is showing that this country just isn’t uniting around any vision for Brexit and it’s one way of fighting.”
After Brexit, Britain might have to leave the EU’s pet passport scheme, which allows registered pets to travel to member states freely with their owners. As a result of the change, dog owners are likely to face increased bureaucracy and need more preparation time to take their canine companions to the continent.
Some at the march bemoaned that and other predicted effects — such as difficulty importing pet food and a decrease in the number of vets in Britain.
“It’s just one of the many aspects that people have taken for granted ... and now won’t be there,” marketing consultant Anthony Robinson, 48, of London, said of the much-loved pet travel scheme as he walked with Fred, his two-year-old corgi.
Thanks to a pet passport, two-year-old retriever Summer traveled to Venice and Rome, its owner Diana Muvoli said.
“She wants to continue her travels,” said Muvoli, whose husband, Umberto, is Italian and regularly visits family there.
At least 1,000 people took part, some sporting fancy dress and painted dog faces, after assembling with their furry companions near Trafalgar Square.
“It’s nice to highlight a serious point in such a fun way — everybody loves dogs,” German university lecturer Flora Renz said.
She has lived in Britain for a decade and turned out with Billy, a three-year-old beagle draped in an EU flag.
Others were decked out in signs — “Brexit’s barking mad” — while marchers carried similarly themed placards, including “Brexit, it’s a dog’s dinner.”
The atmosphere was light-hearted, with urinals for the dogs plastered with images of ardent Brexiteers like Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage drawing laughs.
“They’re peeing on command on them,” organizer Daniel Elkan said. “People have got really into it. They might not have marched before, but came today because their dogs have led them.”
Organizers later handed a petition to British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Downing Street office “signed by dogs and owners.”
A string of rape and assault allegations against the son of Norway’s future queen have plunged the royal family into its “biggest scandal” ever, wrapping up an annus horribilis for the monarchy. The legal troubles surrounding Marius Borg Hoiby, the 27-year-old son born of a relationship before Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s marriage to Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, have dominated the Scandinavian country’s headlines since August. The tall strapping blond with a “bad boy” look — often photographed in tuxedos, slicked back hair, earrings and tattoos — was arrested in Oslo on Aug. 4 suspected of assaulting his girlfriend the previous night. A photograph
The US deployed a reconnaissance aircraft while Japan and the Philippines sent navy ships in a joint patrol in the disputed South China Sea yesterday, two days after the allied forces condemned actions by China Coast Guard vessels against Philippine patrol ships. The US Indo-Pacific Command said the joint patrol was conducted in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone by allies and partners to “uphold the right to freedom of navigation and overflight “ and “other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace.” Those phrases are used by the US, Japan and the Philippines to oppose China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the
‘GOOD POLITICS’: He is a ‘pragmatic radical’ and has moderated his rhetoric since the height of his radicalism in 2014, a lecturer in contemporary Islam said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani is the leader of the Islamist alliance that spearheaded an offensive that rebels say brought down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ended five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria. Al-Jolani heads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in Syria’s branch of al-Qaeda. He is a former extremist who adopted a more moderate posture in order to achieve his goals. Yesterday, as the rebels entered Damascus, he ordered all military forces in the capital not to approach public institutions. Last week, he said the objective of his offensive, which saw city after city fall from government control, was to
IVY LEAGUE GRADUATE: Suspect Luigi Nicholas Mangione, whose grandfather was a self-made real-estate developer and philanthropist, had a life of privilege The man charged with murder in the killing of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare made it clear he was not going to make things easy on authorities, shouting unintelligibly and writhing in the grip of sheriff’s deputies as he was led into court and then objecting to being brought to New York to face trial. The displays of resistance on Tuesday were not expected to significantly delay legal proceedings for Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who was charged in last week’s Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, the leader of the US’ largest medical insurance company. Little new information has come out about motivation,
RSS