A bar has defended its name change, with the owner branding people complaining as "snowflakes."
Bloom, in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, changed its name to The Strangled Cat following a refurbishment into a karaoke bar.
The bar's management said it was a reference to a saying often used to describe people singing poorly at karaoke.
However, users on social media responded to the change with outrage, with one calling it "disgusting."
Ryan Fanthorpe outside his bar with the name which has split opinion
The Strangled Cat
One user said: "Disgusting name. You've automatically isolated all cat and animal lovers."
Another added: "What an awful name for a business. I wouldn't visit for that very reason!
"Given the amount of animal abuse in this country, you could have thought of a better name, surely."
One said: "Not impressed with the name tbh."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
The Strangled Cat in Stoke-on-Trent
The Strangled Cat
Ryan Fanthorpe, director of Breakthrough Bars, which owns the venue has hit back, saying the name was a reference to bad karaoke singers.
He told BBC: "I don't think the strangled cat is offensive when you combine it with the karaoke.
Fanthorpe said he thought people were being too sensitive over the name, describing them as being part of the "snowflake era."
"That isn't necessarily the sort of people I would have thought would be commenting...there is an element of edge down there, so we wanted to create something that wasn't just about drinking."
Others came to the defence of the new name in the city centre.
One said: "The Strangled Cat is a fab name if it is going to be a karaoke bar! Has sense of humour completely disappeared nowadays then with people picking at the name?"
Another added: "The strangled cat is a great name considering most people that will sing on karaoke will sound like one anyway."
