[ad_1]
Brian May has announced his resignation as vice president of the RSPCA amid a growing crisis at the animal welfare organisation.
The Queen musician said “appallingly bad standards of animal welfare at member farms of the RSPCA Assured scheme” had led to the decision.
He wrote in a post on Instagram that he “cannot in all conscience remain a figurehead of the organisation while the RSPCA avoids its responsibility to put its house in order”.
This comes as RSPCA Assured launched an investigation and wider review of the scheme, including unannounced visits to more than 200 randomly chosen members, after hearing concerns.
“We want to give our supporters, partners and the public confidence that RSPCA Assured is consistently delivering better welfare than standard farming practices,” said a RSPCA Assured spokesperson. ”So, 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. Once we have analysed our findings, we will take any robust action necessary.”
A coalition of 60 campaign organisation has called for the scheme to be scrapped, saying their undercover investigations at around 40 farms found welfare issues. At the time footage was release from these campaigns, Chris Packham, president of the RSPCA, called for the suspension of the RSPCA Assured scheme.
A separate “fine grain and comprehensive” review of the scheme, which covers meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, has also been carried out over several months.
May explained that he while he understands the organisation needed time to evaluate the evidence, he has found the RSPCA’s response “completely inadequate”.
“In line with the organisation’s core principles, and in the clear knowledge that supervision of the Assured scheme had failed and was continuing to fail, I feel the only acceptable policy would have been complete dismantling of the scheme,” he added.
“Instead, the RSPCA have tried to defend their position and in doing so, in my view, have sacrificed their integrity,” said May.
May went on to recognise the “wonderful work” of the RSPCA, adding he was “heartbroken” to be withdrawing his support.
He will continue to work with the charity he founded, Save Me Trust, and said he hoped the two charities could “continue to fight on the same side in the future, against the agencies of abuse against animals”.
“We have been very proud to have Sir Brian May, a passionate campaigner for animals, as our Vice President and we share his desire to create a better world for all animals,” said a spokesperson for RSPA Assured. “We have different views from Sir Brian on how best to approach this complex challenge but we respect his views and understand his decision to step down as RSPCA Vice President.”
“We both agree that the rapid growth of low welfare industrial farming is the biggest welfare issue facing animals,” the spokesperson added. “But the reality is 94% of people currently choose to eat meat. There are billions of animals being farmed right now in appalling conditions, with no regard for their welfare. There is currently no specific legal protection for salmon, trout, turkeys, dairy cattle, beef cattle and sheep, and without our standards many millions of farmed animals would live worse lives.”
[ad_2]