Queen guitarist Brian May has sensationally announced that he has quit his role as Vice President of the RSPCA.
The 77 year old superstar undertook the role in 2012 as he has been an avid advocate of animal welfare rights for many years. However, things have taken a drastic turn, as he has now resigned from the coveted role, over news of "conditions in some farms."
The musician posted on Instagram his full letter of resignation which was addressed to the Board and Trustees of the RSPCA. He captioned the post: "My letter of resignation earlier today as a Vice President to the RSPCA. A very sad day – and a painful decision to make. But in the face of the recent revelations about conditions in some farms in the RSPCA Assured scheme, I feel the RSPCA have had ample time to do the right thing – but have tried to justify their position."
He continued: "And meanwhile, good folks out there are still paying extra for animal produce with the RSPCA sticker on it, thinking they are protecting farm animals from cruelty. A very hard decision, because of all the great things the RSPCA do, but in the end there was no other option for me."
This came after a report from Animal Rising , which raised concern over the charity and its failing regarding animal welfare. In June, 60 investigations across 45 Assured farms exposed many farms had failed to meet RSPCA criteria and also reportedly fellow far below the legal standard for animal welfare. The report allegedly claimed 280 legal breaches in farms kept by the RSPCA, with filthy conditions, extreme stress and pain, and outright abuse of animals – which is what the animal charity prides itself on eradicating.
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In Sir Brian's statement, it read: "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. 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."
He added: "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 damming evidence comes to light, I find the RSPCA’s response completely inadequate."
He then went on to say: "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. Instead, the RSPCA have tried to defend their position, and in doing so, in my view, have sacrificed their integrity."
This came after an open letter was written to the animal charity which had signatories including Ricky Gervais, Joanna Lumley, and Miriam Margoyles, asking to drop the Assured scheme. Assured products are labelled by the RSPCA in shops to reflect that meat products meet a standard of welfare, which the open letter claimed was "misleading."
Sir Brian finished his statement saying: "I hope that the RSPCA and Save-Me Trsut can continue to fight on the same side in the future, against the agencies of abuse against animals." A spokesperson for the RSPCA told Metro:" We have been very proud to have Brian May, a passionate campaigner for animals, as our Vice President and we share his desire to create a better world for all animals.We have different views from 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."
They added: "We would like to thank him for everything he has done for the RSPCA, our staff, volunteers, supporters and, of course, the animals, during his time as Vice President. His ongoing and devoted work campaigning on issues such as the badger cull and hunting have been invaluable for all animals and we look forward to speaking up on these issues with him in the future."
The went on to add: "Farming is hard, and farmed animal welfare is even harder. The rapid growth of low welfare industrial farming is the biggest welfare issue facing animals.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. "
Lastly, it said: "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, 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."
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