Fury at animal rights group after pub urged to axe The Old Bulldog name

The owner renamed the pub The Old Bulldog after his own British Bulldog Atticus (Image: Getty) Animal rights activists have been accused of trying to erase Britain’s culture after a pub was told to change its name from The Old Bulldog. Peta wrote to the Stoke-on-Trent watering hole asking it to rebrand itself The Old Mutt, fearing its current moniker glamorises flat-nosed dogs, which can have numerous health issues. British Bulldogs, famously synonymous with Winston Churchill, along with pugs and French Bulldogs, often have severe breathing difficulties. In a letter to the pub, Elisa Allen, vice president of Peta, branded their breeding a ‘cruel’ trade ‘which dooms dogs to a lifetime of suffering’. She wrote: ‘Renaming The Old Bulldog ‘The Old Mutt’ would avoid promoting deformed flat-faced dogs and would instead help promote loveable, one-of-a-kind mixed-breed dogs, who are typically healthier and usually live longer than their pedigree cousins.’ British Bulldogs along with pugs and French Bulldogs, often have severe breathing difficulties (Image: Getty) Peta offered to pay the costs of a new sign and logo. But pub owner Mike Newton, 53, said Peta was trying to make the pub conform to ‘woke capitalism’. Mr Newton, who is also a Conservative parliamentary candidate, first thought the letter was a joke from a regular. He told the Daily Express: ‘Apart from Peta, who doesn’t love a British Bulldog? They are a national symbol, along with the phone box, a policeman and his helmet and the Routemaster bus. ‘As a Conservative candidate you look at this through a political lens. On the surface, the letter was about animal welfare but the massive subtext was they wanted to be ultra-woke and wanted to get rid of a symbol that makes you very proud to be British. ‘We are all very proud to be British in this pub and people are very surprised this symbol of our culture is trying to be cancelled.’ Mr Newton renamed the pub The Old Bulldog last year after his own British Bulldog Atticus, whom he rescued from dog fighting in USA while he lived in New York. He said: ‘Atticus is a healthy and good-natured dog, I don’t believe owning him is cruel.’ He said it was ‘ironic’ to be targeted by Peta as one of his first jobs was driving a van for the RSPCA. Mr Newton added: ‘I respect Peta’s aim. I am not a raging meat eater, my diet is largely plant-based, but the line has to be drawn somewhere. ‘Cancel culture and wokeism is something that’s been imported into this country and doesn’t sit right with traditional members of the public. ‘Large charities shouldn’t be sticking their nose into a small business.’ Peta said promoting breathing-impaired breeds (BIBs) such as the British Bulldog, “normalises their suffering”, adding that they can have painful symptoms such as laboured breathing, snorting, gagging, and collapsing – and make dogs more susceptible to vomiting, exercise intolerance, heatstroke, and premature death.