Thanks to all who signed the petition! Here's an update on what happened:
Depsite the terrible weather -- drizzly rain!! -- we had a great turnout. About 40-50 people-plus were there throughout the one-hour demo, which makes for a good-sized protest group by any measure here, and we had a big group of dogs. Our 'spokesdog' was Shannon, a puppy farm breeding bitch golden lab, who looks shocking due to bad treatment but is a game girl for getting out and meeting people and other doglets. She was enjoying herself and was in a little t-shirt to keep herself warm! My two, Jaspar and Leo, did meet and greet duty too though I had to carry them so they could be seen.
We had people on all four street corners handing out flyers and we cornered many TDS (MPs) on their way in and out of the Dail. We also had a few TDs who came along and were out talking to the protesters including the head of the Green Party Trevor Sargeant (the only political party with an animal welfare policy position). Fromer deputy PM and foreign minister Dick Spring came and stood with me for a while with three people he brought along.
We had a continuous stream of thumbs-ups and honking from car drivers, bus drivers (the Dail is on a major bus route), and even the binmen. LOL So the public DO CARE and this was a reminder to draw on their strength by keeping this issue public.
We had a good show from TV and print media and we made the 9pm national TV news on national broadcaster RTE (our #1 goal) as well as a big spread the next day in the largest national paper the Irish Independent plus the Irish Star and the Herald Metro. The papers all highlighted the plight of Shannon.
We are very pleased with the turnout, publicity, and return of this issue to the mainstream news and plan to keep the pressure up til the government gets legislation in place. I am currently very positive this will happen and will let everyone know how this develops. Ireland is a major source of puppy farm cavaliers for the UK, Europe and especially the US so shutting them down is a personal mission as it is for all of us involved in this campaign, all with a love of different breeds and dogs generally.