Veganuary Co-founder Applies For RSPCA CEO Role

Matthew Glover, the co-founder of Veganuary and Vegan Food Group (VFG), has announced that he’s applied to be CEO of the RSPCA.

Glover has been a vocal critic of the 200-year-old animal protection organization in recent weeks, after multiple investigations – including one of his own – found huge suffering on RSPCA Assured farms. In a video filmed outside the RSPCA head office in Horsham, Sussex, Glover criticized the charity for its failure to protect animals on farms.

“Despite the name, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the RSPCA does very little for farmed animals,” he said. “And with over 99 percent of domesticated animals being on farms, this is a huge blind spot.”

The problem with RSPCA Assured

The RSPCA is under mounting pressure from a number of animal groups and celebrities to drop the RSPCA Assured scheme. This scheme certifies British farms and slaughterhouses that supposedly meet the charity’s “strict welfare standards.” The RSPCA describes RSPCA Assured as an “ethical food label.”

Earlier this year, animal rights group Animal Rising released a major exposé featuring undercover footage from dozens of RSPCA Assured farms. A total of 280 breaches of legal standards for animal welfare were documented. Chickens were seen dead and dying in barns, piglets were subjected to routine mutilations, and salmon had eyes and body parts missing. A separate investigation from Animal Justice Project found similar suffering.

“The RSPCA Assured scheme justifies the exploitation of farmed animals under the guise of higher welfare,” Glover said in the video. “This welfare-washing needs to stop.”

Will the RSPCA drop RSPCA Assured?

Pigs in a dark RSPCA Assured farm — Animal Rising Investigations have uncovered hundreds of instances of animal cruelty on RSPCA Assured farms

Soon after the investigation footage was released, RSPCA president Chris Packham, who follows a plant-based diet, called on the organization to suspend the scheme. “I think the footage is utterly indefensible,” he told The Sunday Times. “What we’ve seen in that footage is not a standard of welfare that any member of the public would accept. It’s not acceptable.”

Celebrities including Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, and Ricky Gervais, along with vets, animal groups, and former RSPCA board members, recently signed an open letter urging the RSPCA to drop the scheme. But, despite this pressure, the RSPCA has yet to announce any changes to the scheme.

The future of the RSPCA

In September of this year, RSPCA CEO Chris Sherwood announced that he would be stepping down from his role, and there are hopes that new leadership could see changes to the RSPCA’s stance on animal farming.

In his application letter for the CEO role, Glover stated that the RSPCA’s “efforts must evolve” to tackle the huge environmental and ethical costs of animal agriculture. “Imagine an RSPCA that is a global leader in advocating for a kinder, more sustainable future. A future where all animals are treated with compassion and respect, where the food system supports the health of the planet and its inhabitants, and where no animal is seen as ‘stock’ but as an individual with intrinsic value,” he wrote.

He added that, in the position of CEO, he would “work tirelessly to make the RSPCA a beacon of hope and leadership in addressing the crises of our time.”

“Together, we can build an organisation that not only speaks up for animals but inspires society to treat them with dignity and compassion,” he concluded.