PA averageQueen guitarist Sir Brian May has resigned as deputy chairman of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) amid what he called “shocking evidence” of animal welfare failures related to food certification labelling.
BBC News reports on Thursday The association must carry out spot checks on more than 200 “RSPCA Guaranteed” farms to ensure they meet its own standards.
Animal welfare campaigners said their own undercover investigation found the scheme covering some 4,000 farms failed to ensure even basic legal standards. They also want RSPCA chief Chris Packham to step down.
The RSPCA said it had “different views from Brian on how best to deal with this complex challenge”.
The BBC has contacted conservationist and TV presenter Mr Packham for comment.
Sir Brian, who has long been committed to animal welfare issues and campaigned against the culling of badgers to protect farms from the effects of bovine tuberculosis, published his Resignation letter on Instagram.
“Today it is with deep sadness and profound introspection that I have to resign as deputy chairman of the RSPCA,” he said in the letter.
He said he had been informed of “complaints received by the RSPCA in recent months about extremely poor animal welfare standards on farms that are members of the RSPCA Assurance Scheme”.
“I understand that the RSPCA will need time to assess the evidence and make a decision on what action to take.
Getty Images“But as more and more damning evidence comes to light, I find the RSPCA’s response to be completely inadequate.”
He added that the demolition was needed due to a “failure” in regulation of the scheme.
Animal welfare campaigners have made allegations against about 40 farms on the RSPCA’s safeguard scheme, including overcrowding, poor hygiene and, in some cases, physical abuse of livestock by farm workers.
Chris Packham has also called for the scheme to be suspended but has yet to comment on his future in the role.
Claire Palmer, director of the Animal Justice Project, one of 60 organizations to issue an open letter on Thursday calling for the scheme to be scrapped, told the BBC: “Seeing what Brian May has done They are pleased with the responsible decision to resign as Vice President.” ”.
‘Strong action’
“Years of undercover investigations have revealed systemic failures in the RSPCA’s safeguarding scheme. The RSPCA must now take bold and decisive action,” she added.
The RSPCA Guarantee Scheme (originally known as Free Food) was launched 30 years ago and covers meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. Certified farms must follow strict welfare standards set by the RSPCA welfare scientists, which go above and beyond UK legal requirements.
A spokesman for the RSPCA said it respected Sir Brian’s “views and understands his decision”, before adding: “His ongoing work on issues such as badger culling and hunting benefits all animals. Invaluable and we look forward to speaking out on these issues with him in the future.
The spokesman also called farming “hard, and farmed animal welfare even harder”.
But, she added, the RSPCA wanted to “convince our supporters, partners and the public that RSPCA Assured consistently delivers better benefits than standard farming practice.
“As a result, we launched an independent review into RSPCA Assured, which has been underway for several months and included undercover visits to more than 200 members of the scheme.
“Once we analyze our findings, we will take any forceful action necessary.”
