The image of pet dogs patiently waiting outside polling stations while owners cast their vote is trending on social media as millions turned out to vote in the UK general election on Thursday. The hashtag on Twitter of #dogsatpollingstations is now considered a British tradition as people post images of their dogs throughout polling day. The trend took off in a big way during the 2015 general election, and has since proved a hit during the June 2016 referendum on Britain’s membership of the 28-member European Union (EU) economic bloc. “A great thing about Twitter is the unexpected trends that we see borne out of the imagination of the general public,” said Twitter UK managing director Dara Nasr.
This year the trend has taken on new twists with people bringing along their cats and other pets, including horses in some cases.