The story so far
Charlie’s story
Charlie was rescued from an RSPCA Assured farm by investigators. This is her story.
What happened?
The RSPCA created the Assured scheme with good intentions – to reduce factory farming in the UK and prevent cruelty to farmed animals.
But in the 32 years the Assured scheme has been in existence, factory farming has spread across all corners of the UK, with over 85% of animals in the UK now factory farmed.
Over 170 undercover investigations into RSPCA Assured farms and slaughterhouses have found widespread cruelty and suffering. Every RSPCA Assured farm that has been investigated is a factory farm.
We’re asking the UK’s most-loved animal charity to stand against factory farming, not support it.
Cruel by design
For 32 years, the RSPCA has tried to push standards higher within an industry that resists change and prioritises profits above all else. But at what point does trying to improve a system that’s cruel by design become part of the problem?
The industry is using the RSPCA’s trusted name as a stamp of approval – a way to reassure and mislead animal lovers, and keep an industrial system going that the public does not support.
The RSPCA isn’t just any certification body. It’s the most trusted animal organisation in Britain — one people have believed in for over 200 years. When it puts its name on a factory farm or slaughterhouse, it’s telling the public:
This place has been approved by a charity whose only job is to protect animals from cruelty.
The Assured scheme has not reduced factory farming. Instead, it’s become a hiding place for the industry as it continues to expand and intensify.
An open letter to the RSPCA
Over 200 vets, politicians, and public figures have signed an open letter calling on the RSPCA to lead the way to a kinder future for all animals.
We signed the open letter
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Ricky Gervais
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Chris Packham
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Joanna Lumley
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Sir Brian May
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Bryan Adams
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Miriam Margolyes
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Moby
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Zack Polanski
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Evanna Lynch
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Peter Egan
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Jerome Flynn
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Caroline Lucas
