Wildlife TV presenter and conservationist Chris Packham has resigned as president of the RSPCA after an investigation made allegations of animal cruelty at some of the charity’s approved abattoirs.
Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas has also resigned as vice-president of the animal welfare organisation, with both of them expressing their “sadness” over leaving the roles.
It comes after an Animal Rising investigation made claims of cruelty at “RSPCA Assured” slaughterhouses in England and Scotland, with the campaign group sharing footage of alleged mistreatment.
RSPCA Assured is a scheme whereby approved farms must comply with the organisation’s “stringent higher welfare standards”, according to its website.
Caroline Lucas said she and Mr Packham tried to talk to RSCPA leadership (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Mr Packham shared the news of his resignation on social media, saying: “It is with enormous sadness that I have resigned from my role as president of the RSPCA.
“I would like to register my respect and admiration for all the staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to protect animals from cruelty.”
Ms Lucas said she and Mr Packham failed to get the charity’s leadership to act.
She posted on X, formerly Twitter: “With huge sadness I’m resigning as VP of the RSPCA, a role I’ve held with pride for over 15 years.
“But their Assured Schemes risk misleading the public & legitimising cruelty.
“I tried with @ChrisGPackham to persuade the leadership to act but sadly failed.”
In June, the RSPCA commissioned an independent review of 200 farms on its assurance scheme which concluded the scheme was “operating effectively” to assure animal welfare on member farms.
Following Animal Rising’s release of footage last week, the charity said it was “appalled” by what was shown, adding that it launched an immediate investigation and suspended three slaughterhouses from the scheme.
In the wake of Mr Packham and Ms Lucas’ resignations, an RSPCA spokesperson said it is “simply not true” that the organisation has failed to take urgent action.
They 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 body-worn cameras and CCTV, supported by £2 million of investment.”
The charity insisted that while 94% of people continue to choose to eat meat, fish, eggs and dairy, it is the “right thing to do” to work with farmers to improve the lives of animals.
“RSPCA Assured visit all farms on the scheme every year, but last year just 3% of farms were assessed for animal welfare by state bodies,” the spokesperson continued.
“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.”