Today footage and a report from a huge investigation into the state of RSPCA Assured farms has been released, with 45 UK farms featured [1]. The RSPCA Assured scheme is one of the largest, so-called, animal welfare programs in the UK.
RSPCA President, Chris Packham, was sent the footage and has today called the footage “indefensible.” He also called for the suspension of the scheme [2]. Peter Egan, former RSPCA Vice-President condemned the footage too.
The scheme has been described as “effectively fraud” by a Crown Court Judge.
Animal Rising is calling on the RSPCA to drop the assurance scheme entirely, saying “This is definitive proof that farming animals can never be done nicely.”
Today, amidst an utter scandal for the RSPCA, Animal Rising has released footage from over 40 UK farms that the charity’s animal welfare scheme assures as, supposedly, ‘high welfare’. The footage shows scenes including baby chickens dying in factory farms and pigs left dead for days in filthy sheds.
Rose Patterson, Animal Rising Co-Director said:
“This investigation has blown the lid off the RSPCA’s dirty secret; it is happy to rubber stamp cruelty on factory farms and industrial animal abuse. I’ve personally spent months investigating and cataloguing a litany of suffering across farms that the public is told to trust. Some of the scenes we’ve seen in the sheds endorsed by the RSPCA are beyond barbaric.
The world’s oldest and most respected animal charity has clearly lost its way. The work they do for cats, dogs, and other animals is evidently not making its way to others like chickens and pigs. As the charity nears its 200th birthday it has a choice to make; will it step up, protect animals, and drop the Assured Scheme?”
Chris Packham, President of the RSPCA, has called on the charity to suspend the scheme and take a bolder stance to protect animals. This exposé comes after several other investigations into RSPCA Assured farms by groups such as Animal Justice Project and VIVA! [3] [4].
Peter Egan, Former RSPCA Vice-President said:
“The findings on RSPCA Assured farms across the UK are deeply troubling and call the entire scheme into question. The RSPCA has been failing animals across the UK.
In the past, I worked extensively with the charity because I believed - and still do believe - that the RSPCA must lead the way in protecting animals. I now see that cannot happen without dropping the RSPCA Assured scheme entirely”
There is more to come on this story, with Animal Rising promising a sustained campaign of action until the RSPCA drops its assured scheme.
Animal Rising is a social movement to create a new relationship with all beings and give us a chance for a safe ecological future. The group primarily calls for the transition to a secure and sustainable plant-based food system, alongside a mass rewilding programme.
ENDS
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Notes To The Editor: