Animal rights activists have accused a blind man of being ‘cruel’ simply for having a guide dog.

Jonathan Attenborough, 30, said that he has been subjected to accusations of animal cruelty on two separate occasions while out with his three-year-old Labrador, Sam.

Mr. Attenborough spoke of a ‘very aggressive’ incident that occurred while he and Sam were in a hotel bar in Portsmouth.

According to The Sun, Mr. Attenborough recalled: ‘A woman approached me and my friend, another guide dog owner, to tell us she was an animal rights activist and we were cruel.

‘She was very in our faces and made us feel very uncomfortable.’

Mr. Attenborough added: ‘I was so taken aback. I tried to have a conversation with her but she didn’t listen. She just seemed to be in a rage.’

Mr. Attenborough, from Fife in Scotland, relayed a similar experience he had in a cafe in Edinburgh.

Mr. Attenborough described his exchange with an irate man claiming to be an animal rights activist, saying: ‘He told me I shouldn’t have a guide dog. He said dogs should be running free in the fields. I thought he was joking at first.’

Mr. Attenborough is a technology expert and innovator as well as a disability rights and inclusion activist, and is an ambassador for Euan’s Guide, a review forum designed for those with disabilities and access issues.

Another blind man, 23-year-old Robert Meikle from Glasgow, told The Times that he had also come in for similar accusations when in the company of his three-year-old black Labrador, Winnie.

Mr. Meikle said: ‘It’s completely inappropriate. There’s so much I rely on Winnie for.’

It has been argued by some hardline animal rights activists that breeding dogs to benefit humans represents exploitative behaviour.

Other activists campaign to introduce tougher measures to regulate the breeding of dogs, and encourage pet owners to adopt abandoned animals rather than buying from breeders.

However, most animal rights activists do not argue against the need for guide dogs and other assistance dogs for those with disabilities.

In January 2019, Irish organisation Dogs Trust presented the Dail with a petition signed by 28,000 people to strengthen the Dog Breeding Establishment Act of 2010 as a matter of urgency to tackle the cruelty inflicted on dogs by certain unscrupulous breeders.