Dogs at polling stations or #dogsatpollingstations is a popular hashtag and Internet meme on social media during an election in the UK and other countries such as Australia. [1] Typically, the dogs are photographed waiting for their owners outside the polling station and the pictures then posted on services such as Instagram or Twitter. [2] [3]
Under UK law, broadcasters are forbidden to report on election issues or campaign details while polls are open. News coverage is restricted to simple, factual information, traditionally including photographs of viewers' dogs outside of polling stations. Other pets that have been reported include parrots, tortoises, and snakes. [4]
The hashtag became popular in the UK general elections of 2015 and 2017. [5] [6]
The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held in December and thus many of the photographs had a seasonal theme such as showing the dog wearing a Santa hat. Politicians who participated included Boris Johnson, with his dog Dilyn, and Sadiq Khan with his Labrador, Luna. [7] Ed Davey posted a picture of his family's guinea pig, Carrot, as they do not have a dog. Other animals, such as horses, also made appearances. [8] [9] [10]
Semiotic analysis of the photographs may indicate the political alignment or voting preference of the dogs' owners. [1]
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/cute appearances, intelligence, and relatable personalities, but some pets may be taken in on an altruistic basis and accepted by the owner regardless of these characteristics.
The Jack Russell Terrier is a British breed of small terrier. It is principally white-bodied and smooth-, rough- or broken-coated, and can be any colour.
Most United States presidents have kept pets while in office, or pets have been part of their families. Only James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, and Donald Trump did not have any presidential pets while in office. However, Johnson did take care of some mice he found in his bedroom.
YouGov plc is a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm headquartered in the UK with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white background is not pigmented.
An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization is a group dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take abandoned, abused, or stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run by volunteers, who take animals into their homes and care for them—including training, playing, handling medical issues, and solving behavior problems—until a suitable permanent home can be found.
An animal collar is a device that attaches to the neck of an animal to allow it to be harnessed or restrained.
Paws and Claws: Pet Vet is a pet-raising simulation video game by German studio Radon Labs in which players can nurse dogs, cats, horses, birds, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits back to health. The game features 20 ailments. Players can design their own clinic, choose which kennels to build and expand existing buildings to provide further services to their patients.
Larry is a British domestic tabby cat who has been Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street since 2011. He is cared for by Downing Street staff and is not the personal property of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Larry has lived at 10 Downing Street during the premierships of six prime ministers: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.
The Lychee and Dog Meat Festival is an annual festival held in Yulin, Guangxi, China, during the summer solstice in which festival goers eat dog meat and lychees. The festival began in 2009 and spans about ten days during which thousands of dogs are reportedly consumed. The festival has drawn criticism domestically and internationally.
Doug the Pug is a pug living in Nashville, Tennessee, who has gained a large internet and social media following, and has reached the status of a "celebrity dog".
WeRateDogs is a Twitter account that rates people's dogs with a humorous comment about the dog. The account was started in 2015 by college student Matt Nelson, and has received international media attention both for its popularity and for the attention drawn to social media copyright law when it was suspended by Twitter based on false Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaints.
Moggmentum is an online right-wing campaign and grassroots movement supporting Jacob Rees-Mogg, in a similar fashion to the 2015 phenomena of Milifandom and Momentum. The movement includes pressure for Rees-Mogg to become the Leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. Comparisons between Moggmentum and the Tea Party movement in the United States have been made with regard to their supporting "rightwing ideas, grassroots activism and shaking up the conservative establishment".
Izzy the Frenchie is a French bulldog, known as an internet celebrity. Izzy was born in northern California and moved with her owner Shane Jordan to the Hamptons in New York. The Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, in 2020 issued an executive order and proclamation declaring August 26 "Izzy The Frenchie Day" in the city. As of 2021, Izzy had over one million followers on Instagram and currently lives in East Hampton, New York.
DC League of Super-Pets is a 2022 American animated superhero comedy film. Produced by Warner Animation Group, DC Entertainment, and Seven Bucks Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it was directed by Jared Stern and co-directed by Sam J. Levine, from a screenplay by the writing team of Stern and John Whittington. The film stars Dwayne Johnson as the voice of Krypto, alongside a supporting ensemble voice cast that includes Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna, Marc Maron, Thomas Middleditch, Ben Schwartz, and Keanu Reeves. The film tells the story of Superman's pet dog Krypto and shelter dog Ace who work with other animals to save captured superheroes from Lex Luthor and Lulu.
Dilyn is a dog which lived with former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie during their time at 10 Downing Street. He is a white, male Jack Russell cross and was born in 2018.
The voting pencil conspiracy theory is a conspiracy theory that using the pencils provided in British polling stations allows the result to be changed by MI5. Promoters of the theory urge people to use pen on the basis that it makes it harder for MI5 to change the vote. The theory originated with "Yes" voters in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and was widespread among "Leave" voters during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On Twitter the hashtags #Usepens and #Pencilgate were used to promote the theory. Legally, voters are free to use the pencil or bring their own pen. The Electoral Commission states that pencils are offered due to greater reliability and reduced risk of ink being transferred across a folded ballot paper.
Michele Zappavigna is an Australian linguist. She is an associate professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Her major contributions are based on the discourse of social media and ambient affiliation. Her work is interdisciplinary and covers studies in systemic functional linguistics (SFL), corpus linguistics, multimodality, social media, online discourse and social semiotics. Zappavigna is the author of six books and numerous journal articles covering these disciplines.
A constitutional referendum was held in Guinea on 22 March 2020, alongside parliamentary elections. The new constitution would reset presidential term limits, allowing president Alpha Condé to be elected for a third term, among other changes.
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