Wildlife campaigner Chris Packham resigns as RSPCA president after stunning footage emerges of ‘animal abuse at charity accredited’ abattoirs’

Wildlife campaigner Chris Packham has resigned as president of the RSPCA after an investigation unearthed allegations of animal abuse at charity approved abattoirs. 

RSPCA Vice-President Caroline Lucas, who was also the former leader of the Green Party, also quit the animal welfare organisation amidst the claims. 

Both have taken to X to speak of their ‘sadness’ at their departure, with Lucas saying the charity’s ‘assured’ scheme ‘risk[ed] misleading the public’ and ‘legitimising cruelty’.

Their resignations came after an investigation by Animal Rising made claims of cruelty at ‘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. 

In June, the charity commissioned an independent review of 200 farms on its assurance scheme which concluded the programme was ‘operating effectively’ to ensure animal welfare on member farms.

In the fallout of footage released by Animal Rising last week, the RSPCA said it was ‘appalled’ by what was shown, and has launched an immediate investigation alongside suspending three slaughterhouses from the scheme.

Packham’s resignation comes after Queen guitarist Sir Brian May quit as the RSPCA’s Vice President after serving the charity for 12 years amid a row regarding  the welfare programme, stating there was ‘no other option’ for him.

The presenter of the BBC‘s much-loved Springwatch had also previously threatened to resign after footage emerged of salmon swimming without tails and chunks missing from their bodies at an RSPCA Assured facility in Scotland.

The now former president of the charity slammed the video as ‘abhorrent’ whilst condemning the animal charity’s assured scheme. 

At the time – in July – he signalled that unless changes were made in the way welfare was enforced, he would possibly quit his role as President of the organisation. 

Later in August footage alleged staff were hitting pigs with paddles in their ‘terror-filled final moments‘ in an RSPCA approved abattoir in Suffolk. 

The footage was recorded by campaigners from the Animal Justice Project (AJP) inside C&K Meats in 2023. 

Other allegations laid against the slaughterhouse included poor hygiene practices and evidence of severe stress indicators amongst the animals, such as frothing at the mouth and heavy panting. 

The slaughterhouse, which has the capacity to kill between 1,200 to 1,400 pigs a day, insisted that it was ‘committed to ensuring high levels of animal welfare and take the subject matter very seriously’. 

In September separate recordings emerged with claims of animal abuse at a flagship farm used in Marks and Spencer’s adverts – and had been RSPCA Assured since 2022. 

The two-year investigation was launched after vegan activist Joey Carbstrong secretly put cameras in place at a dairy farm owned by Charlie Langmead.

Footage posted online appeared to show workers smacking calves in the face, kicking cows, hitting the animals on the back and with a metal floor scraper. 

In one instance, an employee could be seen running at a cow and angrily shouting ‘You’re f***ng r*****ed’, before appearing to stab it with a sharp object.

Mr Carbstrong, an ex-gang member who went vegan in 2013, claimed M&S had previously used the farm in its advertising.

Responding to the distressing footage, M&S said the alleged behaviour fell ‘well below the standards’ expected of the supermarket. The supermarket chain also immediately suspended the farm after being showed the video. 

In the wake of fresh claims from animal campaign group – Animal Rising – Mr Packham released his resignation statement on X which read: ‘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 the wildlife TV presenter failed to get the charity’s leadership to act, adding that the charity’s ‘assured schemes risk misleading the public’.

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 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.

An RSPCA spokesperson 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 per cent 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 per cent 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.’