Sir Brian May resigns from RSPCA in protest amid allegations of ‘appalling’ treatment of animals

27 September 2024, 11:58

Queen legend Sir Brian May has resigned as the RSPCA’s vice president after allegations of “appalling” animal welfare standards at farms using its Assured scheme.

RSPCA Assured, which covers almost 4,000 farms and supermarkets, is designed to inform shoppers that the meat they are purchasing has been treated to a high standard.

But following accusations of overcrowding, poor hygiene and in some shocking cases, physical abuse of livestock by farm workers, Sir Brian May has said he had “no other option” but to resign.

Taking to Instagram, the Queen guitarist said: “It is with profound sadness and not without massive soul-searching that today I have to offer my resignation as a vice-president of the RSPCA.

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“You have kept me informed through the Save Me Trust of complaints that have been levelled in recent months at the RSPCA over appallingly bad standards of animal welfare in member farms of the RSPCA Assured scheme.

“I have understood that the RSPCA needed time to evaluate the evidence and make decisions on action to be taken.

“But as more and more damning evidence comes to light, I find the RSPCA’s response completely inadequate.”

He branded the scheme a “failure” and told his followers it needs to be scrapped.

“Instead, the RSPCA have tried to defend their position, and in doing so, in my view have sacrificed their integrity,” he continued.

Sir Brian added: “I am in full acknowledgment of the wonderful work that the RSPCA has done over the years, and I am heartbroken to be withdrawing my support from the day-to-day work performed by so many heroes on the ground every day.”

He said he understands the damage this may do to the charity’s reputation but said he “cannot in all conscience remain a figurehead of the organisation while the RSCPA avoids its responsibility to put its house in order.”

A number of celebrities have backed calls for assured to be scrapped, including comedy writer Ricky Gervais, singers Moby and Bryan Adams and actress Joanna Lumley.

“Your RSPCA Assured scheme is failing to ensure the welfare of farmed animals, it is welfare-washing animal cruelty, and it is misleading the public that animals can be farmed without cruelty,” a letter from campaigners read.

“In the 200 years you’ve been in existence, you’ve failed to protect the largest group of animals who are suffering the most – animals who are farmed. Almost 100 investigations over the past 16 years have shown shocking and heartbreaking levels of suffering in RSPCA Assured farms and slaughterhouses.”This comes after a group of animal welfare activists secretly filmed RSPCA Assured farms allegedly breaching legal standards, the BBC reports.

Allegations include overcrowding, poor hygiene and in some shocking cases, physical abuse of livestock by farm workers.

After these claims were made public, RSPCA chief Chris Packham called for its Assured scheme to be suspended.

An RSPCA spokesperson said: “Improving the lives of farmed animals is central to what we Do.

“We know that improving farmed animal lives is challenging, but we are constantly striving to drive up standards through improved legislation, better enforcement and farming practices.

“Both the RSPCA and RSPCA Assured take any welfare concerns on farms very seriously – this is the sole focus of the scheme and central to the core work of the RSPCA.

“Failure to conform to the scheme standards is unacceptable.

“Once concerns came to light, RSPCA Assured launched an immediate investigation and visited all farms identified as being members.”

The RSPCA statement continued: “But we want to give our supporters, partners and the public confidence that RSPCA Assured is consistently delivering better welfare than standard farming practices.

“So, alongside this investigation, we launched an independent review of RSPCA Assured, which has been carried out over several months, including unannounced visits to more than 200 members of the scheme. This is in addition to the existing checks we have in place as part of the scheme.

“This has been a fine grain and comprehensive review looking at a large number of farms and the analysis is still ongoing. We will assess this and communicate our findings as soon as we are able.”