Ricky Gervais, Moby and Joanna Lumley call on RSPCA to axe ‘misleading’ meat endorsement scheme

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Louise Thomas

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Comedy writer Ricky Gervais, singers Moby and Bryan Adams, and actors Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margoyles and Sadie Frost have accused the RSPCA of “misleading the public” with its scheme that endorses meat products.

The celebrities – as well as a former vice-chair of the RSPCA’s own board – are calling on the charity to drop its controversial Assured scheme, whose logo is often seen on items such as chicken, sausages, milk and eggs.

An open letter to the RSPCA’s chief executive Chris Sherwood and board chair Claire Horton accuses the charity of failing to protect the largest group of animals that are suffering the most – those that are farmed.

“Your RSPCA Assured scheme is failing to ensure the welfare of farmed animals, it is welfare-washing animal cruelty, and it is misleading the public that animals can be farmed without cruelty,” the letter writers say.

The letter has been signed by 170 people, including vets, doctors, professors, and Jane Tredgett, former vice-chair of the RSPCA board.

The RSPCA is facing mounting pressure over its Assured scheme but says it is still analysing the findings of a comprehensive review of the farms involved.

The charity says Assured has given millions of animals better lives than they otherwise would have had, and it is looking at the findings of a review of the scheme.

Last week, The Independent revealed that the Advertising Standards Agency had launched an investigation into adverts by the RSPCA over complaints they are misleading.

A string of investigations has found animals at RSPCA Assured farms were subjected to needless suffering.

They included a worker hitting pigs as staff prepared to put them into gas chambers and workers at dairy farms hitting cows with poles, kicking them and yelling abuse at them.

The RSPCA was forced to cancel an anniversary party in London because of a planned protest over Assured.

The signatories accuse the charity of hiding what they say are injuries, disease, fear and pain suffered by animals.

The letter says: “In the 200 years you’ve been in existence, you’ve failed to protect the largest group of animals who are suffering the most – animals who are farmed. Almost 100 investigations over the past 16 years have shown shocking and heartbreaking levels of suffering in RSPCA Assured farms and slaughterhouses.

“Animals stamped on, kicked and hit with blunt instruments. Newborn babies taken from their mothers. Animals confined in crowded, stressful conditions their entire lives, many dying from dehydration, starvation, injury or disease.

“The majority of animals gassed to death in slaughterhouses, which causes fear, pain and suffocation. As you’re aware, much of this is widespread under RSPCA’s Assured scheme. Yet the public is not aware of this.”

It goes on: “Endorsing animal cruelty not only erodes the public’s trust in the RSPCA, it holds us back as a society from making the changes we so urgently need.

“Even your own president, Chris Packham, has described the evidence as ‘utterly indefensible’ and called for an immediate suspension of the Assured scheme.”

The letter adds: “By putting your stamp of approval on an industry that confines and kills billions of animals, you’re reinforcing the harmful myth that some animals matter more than others.”

The authors highlight that farming animals worsens the climate and nature crises and increases antibiotic resistance.

Dale Vince, the founder of energy company Ecotricity, added: “The RSPCA advertises fairytale farms in comparison to the reality. It’s welfare-washing.”

An RSPCA spokesperson said: “Thanks to our farmed animal-welfare standards millions of animals around the world have better lives.

“Both the RSPCA and RSPCA Assured take any welfare concerns on farms very seriously – this is the sole focus of the scheme and central to the core work of the RSPCA. Failure to conform to the scheme standards is unacceptable. Once concerns came to light, RSPCA Assured launched an immediate investigation and visited all farms identified as being members.

“So alongside this investigation, 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. This is in addition to the existing checks we have in place as part of the scheme.”

It said the comprehensive review looked at a large number of farms and the analysis was ongoing. “We will assess this and communicate our findings as soon as we are able.”