Wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham and former Green Party MP Caroline Lucas have quit as president and vice-president of the RSPCA after a campaign group alleged animal cruelty at some of the charity’s approved list of abattoirs.
Animal Rising released footage from facilities as part of its investigation into the RSPCA’s “Assured Scheme” which certifies farms, food producers and food retailers that meet its specific animal welfare standards.
In response, the RSPCA said it takes allegations of poor animal welfare “incredibly seriously”.
The charity said it was “simply not true” that it had not taken urgent action, adding unannounced visits had been significantly increased, and use of bodyworn cameras and CCTV was also being explored.
In June, the RSPCA commissioned an independent review of 200 farms on its assurance scheme which concluded it was “operating effectively” to assure animal welfare on member farms.
However, in its most recent investigation, Animal Rising singled out four abattoirs where it said “experts found systemic animal cruelty”.
It said its investigators had found that “in one slaughterhouse 85% of pigs were stunned incorrectly, leaving animals conscious during slaughter, and in another 96% of cows were prodded with an electric goad, a practice banned by the RSPCA, and 46% of cows showed clear signs of panic or escape behaviours.
“There was also frequent verbal and physical abuse from workers, and animals watching in terror and panic as other animals were killed or stunned in front of them.”
Speaking to Radio 4’s PM programme, Packham said he had “sadly and after much contemplation… resigned from the RSPCA”.
While he said the charity does an “enormous amount of good work” across the UK “it is beleaguered with the Assured Scheme” which he said was like a “millstone” around the charity’s neck.
He accused the charity of “propping up the meat industry” when standards were not high enough.
“This year there have been quite serious transgressions on some of the farms they [the RSPCA] assure and most recently and most disturbingly at some abattoirs…
“When I saw the footage that had been collected from those establishments… I can’t speak it was so horrific.”
“Obviously the society suspended those abattoirs immediately and launched an investigation, but launching investigations has been going on for some considerable time.”
He added that he has been campaigning over the assured schemes for some time but has “been unable to see the reforms I needed to see and as a consequence of that, I’ve come to a point where I can’t exact any more pressure in a useful way on the inside, I shall have to go to the outside”.
In an earlier statement posted on Animal Rising’s website, Packham said he was prioritising his “love for animals above all else” and was stepping down immediately, following the “irrefutable evidence of abuse uncovered”.
He accused the RSPCA of making “no meaningful change” after “years of… pushing for reform within the Assured Schemes”.
“I believe the charity has lost sight of its mandate to protect all animals from cruelty and suffering,” he added.
In a separate statement, Lucas said: “The recent horrific revelations of abuse at RSPCA-approved slaughterhouses, filmed undercover by Animal Rising, were the final straw for me.
“The systemic cruelty exposed was unbearable to witness.
“While the RSPCA’s response was to suspend the implicated facilities and launch yet another investigation, they failed to confront the deeper flaws of the scheme itself.
“This approach not only fails to uphold their own standards but also risks misleading the public and legitimising cruelty.”
In a statement, the RSPCA said: “We agree with Chris and Caroline on so many issues and have achieved so much together for animals but we differ on how best to address the incredibly complex and difficult issue of farmed animal welfare.
“We have discussed our work to drive up farmed animal welfare standards openly at length with them on many occasions and it is simply not true that we have not taken urgent action.
“We took allegations of poor welfare incredibly seriously, launching an independent review of 200 farms which concluded that it was ‘operating effectively’ to improve animal welfare.
“We are taking strong steps to improve oversight of welfare, implementing the recommendations in full including significantly increasing unannounced visits, and exploring technology such as bodyworn cameras and CCTV, supported by £2m of investment…
“There is currently little or no legal protection for farmed animals, and very little enforcement. No one else is doing this work; we are the only organisation setting and regularly monitoring animal welfare standards on farms.
“We have pioneered change through RSPCA Assured, which has led to improvements throughout the industry including CCTV in slaughterhouses, banning barren battery cages for hens and sow stalls for pigs, giving salmon more space to swim and developing slower growing chicken breeds who have better quality of life.”
You can listen to the full interview with Chris Packham on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme at 17:00 GMT.