Local Conservative Member and business owner Mike Newton has faced an attack from left-wing organisation Peta over the name of his Stoke-on-Trent Pub, The Old Bulldog.
Mike, who named the pub after his pet bulldog Atticus who was rescued from dogfighting in Los Angeles and now lives happily with the family in Staffordshire. Mike describes Atticus as "healthy, loving, active dog that loves to walk and play football: a meatball on legs – a great companion to whom we will be forever indebted for his loyal doggy good humour."
Mike's pub, The Old Bulldog is in Stoke-on-Trent, sandwiched between Longton town centre and the big estates of Sandford Hill and Meir Hay. His customers are steadfast in their love of country and are hard-working people filled with common sense.
Recently, Mike received a letter accusing the pub of having a name that glamourised a supposedly unhealthy breed and thus encouraging their ownership. It suggested an alternative name of ‘The Old Mutt’, to which it would pay a token amount toward signage. There was also a technical condemnation of brachypelic breeds, which many would say fell into the category of ‘alternative facts’.
A Peta spokesman said:
"Bulldogs have been bred so that their snouts are pushed against their skulls and there isn’t enough space to accommodate healthy anatomical features, making them prone to breathing problems. This is the leading cause of death for bulldogs. I hope you’ll agree that breeding dogs with unnatural features that cause severe health problems is cruel. This is why restrictions have been imposed on breeding breathing-impaired breeds in Norway and the Netherlands and why many other countries are looking to follow suit."
Mike said:
"I think it is very important that, while we all understand the need to provide animal welfare, our national symbols are not attacked. I also think the overwhelming majority of bulldogs and flat face breeds are happy, healthy dogs and as long as their owners care for them, feed them the right diet, and give them exercise, there is absolutely no reason why there should be any ban on them. The real sub text is not so much animal welfare - it is more extreme left wing wokery."
Mike added: "I have grown up around here and have strong links to the area. I want to put something back in the community.
"We have a wonderfully loyal client base. Potteries people are fantastic. We backed ourselves to make it work. Covid came along and then the cost of living crisis. We have had to work really hard. I am grateful to the management team of Angela, Courtney and Jess. We have probably created a dozen jobs and put £25,000 investment into the community."
"We decided to change the name. The girls have got a bulldog and I have Atticus. We thought The Old Bulldog would be a good name.
"We were feeling a bit insulted when we got this very patronising letter from the charity that represents the worst of wokism, telling us how to run our business. It has been hard enough to make money in the pub trade in recent years."
Mike has recently written about his experience on Conservative Home. His full article can be read here: