Sir Brian May has resigned as the RSPCA’s vice president over what he called “appalling” animal welfare standards in farms certified under its scheme. The certified RSPCA Assured label, which indicates that meat, fish, eggs and dairy products have been produced to strict standards which exceed the UK’s legal requirements, is being reviewed by the animal welfare organisation. Almost 4,000 farms participate in the scheme, which means they can use the label to inform supermarket shoppers of their superior animal welfare standards.
Queen guitarist Sir Brian, who has long campaigned on animal welfare rights, and is a co-founder of the Save Me Trust, which campaigns for the rights of foxes and badgers, shared his letter of resignation on Instagram. The letter 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.
“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 damning evidence comes to light, I find the RSPCA’s response completely inadequate.” He added that as the supervision of the scheme has “failed”, it needs to be dismantled.
Sir Brian also said: “I am in full ackno.
