Over the past two weekends, local supporters of Animal Rising handed out leaflets and spoke with members of the public outside over 30 RSPCA charity shops. The materials exposed the vast differences between the public advertising and hidden reality of RSPCA Assured farms.
Members of the public and store workers were made aware of the cruelty uncovered and asked to sign a petition calling for the scheme to be dropped.
Notable supporters of this campaign include Chris Packham, the current president of the RSPCA, and George Monbiot [1][2].
Branches were visited across the UK, including in London, Exeter, Sheffield, Manchester, Kent, Glastonbury, Swansea, Weston-Super-Mare, Hove, Long Eaton, Chester and Frinton.
In a coordinated effort, individuals from the climate and animal group Animal Rising have been outreaching at over 30 RSPCA shops across the UK, including London, Manchester, Sheffield, Swansea and Exeter. Supporters handed out leaflets exposing the cruelty on RSPCA Assured farms and asked people to sign a petition calling for the scheme to be dropped, which currently has over 10,000 signatures. These actions follow extensive investigations by Animal Rising on over 40 farms that have been compiled into a comprehensive and expert-backed report which exposes the RSPCA Assured scheme for endorsing factory farming and extensive animal suffering [3].
The investigations revealed animal suffering and intensive practices on every single farm and resulted in the scheme being described as ‘effectively fraud’ by legal expert Ayesha Smart. Animal Rising is calling for the RSPCA to drop the scheme and throw their support behind a transition to a plant-based food system and helping farmers to produce food sustainably. This is their 200th anniversary year, and making this change will help remove avoidable animal suffering from our food system, create space for rewilding and nature in the UK to thrive, and allow them to extend care and compassion ‘for every kind’ in line with their recent rebrand [4].
Orla Coghlan, Animal Rising spokesperson, leafleted outside the Hove store and said:
“The RSPCA has a responsibility to align their actions with their words, but the cruel and flawed Assured Scheme is in complete contrast with their claim of caring ‘for every kind’. Members of the public and branch workers I spoke to were extremely shocked to hear about the conditions on RSPCA-endorsed farms that Animal Rising have uncovered. When the RSPCA finally drops its Assured Scheme and joins the many organisations already calling for an urgent shift to a plant-based food system, then they can truthfully say they are standing up for farmed animals and wildlife.”
In 2018, comprehensive research from the University of Oxford showed that 76% of the land currently used for food production would be freed-up by a global transition to plant-based production [5]. This land could be rewilded and begin carbon drawdown, mitigating the worst impacts of climate breakdown. A 2019 Harvard University report on UK farmland and food production concluded that the UK would be carbon-negative if it completely transitioned to a plant-based food system [6].
Animal Rising is a social movement to create a new relationship with all beings and give us a chance for a safe ecological future. The group primarily calls for the transition to a secure and sustainable plant-based food system, alongside a mass rewilding programme.
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