Peaceful protests are indeed part of the democratic process and the Prime Minister has acknowledged this as part of our democratic rights.
No one is condoning violence against police officers or their animals. That actually damages the cause and detracts from the message that protesters are trying to make.
I do sometimes think that protects get infiltrated and hijacked by those trying to undermine the protest and message - and they use violence to smear the protestors and their cause.
If media like the Daily Mail can focus on violent protests, it allows them to dismiss and ignore the message - which is exactly what the establishment want.