For 30 years, the RSPCA has endorsed animal products through their RSPCA Assured scheme, promoting an idealised image of happy, well-cared-for farm animals. This portrayal is a lie.
Over the past four months, we have conducted the biggest investigation in UK history, covering 45 farms with 60 investigations. What we found was widespread and systemic suffering and factory farming. After seeing the footage of these investigations, RSPCA President Chris Packham has called the Assured Scheme "Indefensible".
Ayesha Smart, a specialist barrister in animal welfare and Crown court judge highlighted 280 legal violations and 94 breaches of DEFRA codes. She described the scheme as "effectively fraud", quoting;
"Some of these RSPCA Assured farms do not even comply with basic legal requirements even though they hold themselves out to the public as being a 'higher welfare' supplier. This is effectively fraud, particularly when a welfare-conscious consumer selects a product based on that sense of higher welfare and ethical treatment of sentient being."
We documented dead and distressed animals, overcrowded conditions, and inhumane treatment, all occurring under the RSPCA Assured scheme. Our expose builds on a further 33 undercover investigations by ten animal protection organisations over the last 16 years, showing similar levels of cruelty. This is not just "one bad apple"; the whole barrel is rotten.
The RSPCA's false advertising extends from the supermarket aisles of M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Waitrose to primary schools, where the scheme is promoted to children. Despite claiming to oppose intensive farming, the RSPCA continues to endorse factory farming practices and profits roughly £4 million a year.
The RSPCA was founded 200 years ago with the mission of preventing animal cruelty. Over the years, they have worked hard to care for cats and dogs, becoming a much-loved charity. Now, on their 200-year anniversary, it is time for the RSPCA to regain the trust of the British public. Please join us, Chris Packham and thousands of others in calling for the RSPCA leadership to drop the Assured Scheme and return to its original mission of protecting all animals.
