Queen guitarist Sir Brian May has resigned from his role as vice-president of the RSPCA, citing “damning evidence” of animal welfare failings within the charity’s food certification label, RSPCA Assured.
The RSPCA Assured scheme – originally known as Freedom Food – was launched 30 years ago and covers meat, fish, eggs and dairy. Certified farms have to follow strict welfare standards that are set out by RSPCA welfare scientists and are higher than is legally required in the UK.
The scheme, which covers approximately 4,000 farms, has come under scrutiny from animal welfare activists, who claim it fails to ensure even basic legal standards.
May’s resignation follows a series of undercover investigations by campaigners that reportedly found overcrowding, poor hygiene, and cases of physical abuse of livestock at around 40 RSPCA Assured farms. The RSPCA has responded by conducting spot checks on more than 200 farms in the scheme to ensure compliance with its welfare standards.
In his resignation letter, published on Instagram, May stated, “I find the RSPCA’s response completely inadequate,” and called for the dismantling of the RSPCA Assured scheme, which was launched 30 years ago.
The RSPCA acknowledged May’s decision but emphasized its commitment to improving farmed animal welfare.
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An RSPCA spokeswoman said it respects Sir Brian’s “views and understands his decision” before adding: “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 spokeswoman also called farming “hard, and farmed animal welfare is even harder”.
But, she added, the RSPCA wanted 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.”
The association’s president, conservationist Chris Packham, who has previously called for the scheme to be suspended, has not yet commented on his future role.
