Sometime in the early 90s, the RSPCA’s Head of Farm Animals and Deputy Chief Vet, Alastair Mews and external technical advisor Dr Mike Baxter began talking about the possibility of an ethical food label. The idea would be to enable consumers to identify animal products that had come from higher welfare farms. It would be an opportunity for customer demand to drive progress in welfare through direct support for farmers who were going the extra mile for animal welfare.
Over the next few years, the RSPCA conducted surveys to gauge public opinion and to see whether higher welfare products were viable. At the same time, they spoke to farmers and food retailers across the UK to see if there was sufficient interest in an assurance scheme.
Should the RSPCA get involved in animal agriculture?
Whether the RSPCA should get involved in animal agriculture was a difficult question for the Society to answer. Should an animal welfare charity be working with the meat industry to raise standards? Eventually, it was agreed that it would be beneficial to the animals already being farmed to work with the industry on improving welfare standards. Plans were then put in place to develop both species-specific welfare standards and an approach to ensuring they were implemented and enforced in practice.
The RSPCA’s welfare standards are detailed and comprehensive and cover all aspects of an animal’s life. They are constantly evolving, informed by the latest scientific research, veterinary advice and practical experience.
Many farmed animals in the UK are still reared in bare, overcrowded conditions; that’s why the RSPCA team of assessors inspect almost 4,000 hatcheries, farms, hauliers and abattoirs to ensure the RSPCA’s higher welfare standards are being met. RSPCA Assured is the only assurance provider dedicated solely to animal welfare.
Their assurances are:
1 – No cages… ever
- Whenever you buy something carrying the RSPCA Assured mark, you can be sure that animals were reared to the RSPCA’s higher welfare standards. That means our eggs come from hens that were never caged and sows and their piglets were never reared in farrowing crates. Just like us, farm animals need to be active and mobile in order to stay healthy and happy. Cages and crates seriously restrict farmed animals’ movement and prevent them from engaging in their natural behaviours, such as exploring their environment, rooting or nesting.
2 – Enriched living conditions
The RSPCA’s welfare standards insist that farmed animals are provided with a physically and mentally stimulating environment. These requirements vary from species to species, for example:
- Poultry must have access to enrichment such as perches, straw bales and objects to peck at, such as dangling CDs or small toys.
- Pigs must be provided with plenty of comfortable material such as straw to root around in.
- Cow sheds must have brushes to help them groom and calves must be given environmental enrichment such as ropes or toys.
Enrichment helps to ensure farmed animals stay mentally and physically active and healthy, as well as reducing boredom and encouraging exploration and play.
3 – Humane slaughter
Unlike some other schemes, RSPCA Assured inspects the welfare of animals from birth right through to slaughter, including transport. RSPCA Assured animals can only be transported for a maximum of eight hours, which is far below the legal maximum. For some species such as chickens, the maximum journey length is even less. Pigs, cows and sheep must also be given bedding when being transported to make the journey more comfortable and to reduce the likelihood of injuries.
Each set of RSPCA Welfare Standards has a section dedicated to protecting animal welfare at slaughter. These go above the minimum requirements set by law through prohibiting certain practices or insisting on additional rules. For example, the use of electric goads is prohibited and all animals must be stunned prior to slaughter.
4 – Space to move
In many cases, the RSPCA welfare standards specify space allowances above legal requirements and other assurance providers. This ensures animals have enough space to move around, stay active and easily access food and water.
5 – Responsible antibiotic usage
RSPCA Assured does not allow the routine use of antibiotics. However, as an assurance provider that puts animal welfare first – and unlike some others – they require that animals are given antibiotics when they actually need them, such as if an animal is sick or injured. Additionally, all RSPCA Assured farms must have a Veterinary Health and Welfare Plan which is written in conjunction with a vet.
6 – Traceable
In addition to the RSPCA standards for farmed animals, RSPCA Assured also has its own set of standards for food manufacturers to ensure products are traceable. Just like farmers, food manufacturers are inspected to ensure they are adhering to our stringent traceability standards. When you buy a product carrying the RSPCA Assured mark you know the animals have been bred, reared, transported and slaughtered to strict RSPCA welfare standards.
Broiler Chickens Campaign
The RSPCA, is to intervene in support of a judicial review on intensively bred chickens. It has announced that it will contribute evidence and arguments in what it describes as a “potentially landmark” judicial review being brought by the Humane League UK at the High Court in London in May. Its evidence will concentrate on both the welfare issues of fast-growing breeds and the lack of clarity of the current animal welfare legislation.
The case challenges the UK government on the legality of allowing the use of genetically-selected fast-growing breeds of meat chickens. The challenge is based on the RSPCA’s ‘Eat. Sit. Suffer. Repeat: The life of a typical meat chicken’ report, which was published in 2020, and highlighted the welfare issues associated with breeds selected to grow fast.
Its research has demonstrated that faster-growing breeds are more likely to die or need to be culled due to ill health, develop sores on their legs and struggle to walk properly. They reach their average slaughter weight in 35 days, and the charity says that such rapid growth rates can contribute to other health problems, including ascites (heart failure), sudden death syndrome (heart attacks) as well as leg and foot issues.
Kate Parkes, RSPCA poultry expert, said the charity was pleased it had been granted permission to act as an intervener in the case as research clearly shows the welfare issues associated with fast-growing breeds was unacceptable. “We have long had serious concerns about the welfare of fast-growing breeds of meat chickens. The strain of growing at such a rate to fulfil demand for cheap, readily available chicken means that by the end of their short lives, these fast-growing birds are less able to exhibit their natural behaviour such as foraging, dust bathing and perching and instead spend most of their lives sitting and eating, less able to move around.”
The use of fast-growing breeds of chicken is not permitted under its RSPCA Assured Scheme – the charity’s ethical label and farm assurance scheme, due to the welfare issues involved. Many farmers agree that there are significant benefits to rearing slower-growing, higher-welfare breeds. Mark Gorton, managing director of Traditional Norfolk Poultry, said: “We have found that the slow-growing breeds of chickens we grow are best adapted to making the most of what we provide as they seem to have an abundance of energy which allows their natural inquisitive instincts to really show, which is what we are trying to achieve. It is not unusual to see all of the perches we provide completely full of birds or to see young chickens running around outside chasing insects.” The RSPCA supports the Better Chicken Commitment campaign, which is dedicated to raising welfare standards across the chicken supply chain by 2026.
Sainsbury in Hot Water
British egg producers have criticised Sainsbury’s after the retailer confirmed it is temporarily stocking imported eggs from Italy due to shortages. The retailer is facing fresh criticism from the sector after eggs imported from Italy were again spotted on shelves this week. The barn eggs are supplied by Italian supplier Atlante Ingredients and are selling for £1.35 per half dozen. Sainsbury’s makes a point of promoting their strict adherence to stocking “100% RSPCA Assured Eggs”, but when they started importing eggs in November, it sparked an angry backlash.
One anonymous producer, quoted on an egg industry forum on the app Telegram, said: “Very good of the RSPCA to say nothing on the matter. “Even better that their website wrongly suggests that all eggs at Sainsburys are RSPCA Assured. That is unless they are now certifying Italian barn eggs?” He added: “They (RSPCA Scheme) happily take membership fees from pullet readers, laying farms and packers along the way. Every farmer should question why they continue to pay their fees in return for no support.”
The RSPCA Assured Scheme has a membership fee, with farmers having to adhere to the RSPCA’s detailed animal welfare standards. Farms are visited regularly by an RSPCA Assessor to ensure good animal welfare. However, the fees more than doubled in the summer of 2021 for members.
Last year the RSPCA joined the NFU to launch a new report calling for transparency and consistency in animal welfare standards in the UK’s trade policy. Furthermore, through their post-Brexit poll, they ascertained that the UK public care about what they eat and how it is produced. The poll showed that more than the majority (80%) of the British public believe that UK animal welfare standards should apply to imports.
Whilst many retailers blamed the shortage on the avian influenza outbreaks, BFREPA CEO Robert Gooch has accused supermarkets of using the outbreaks as an excuse. Concerns that egg buyers were not doing enough to assist producers facing mounting production costs were made apparent as far back as spring last year, but were largely ignored.
Mr Gooch said in November: “Instead of investing in and managing a proper British supply chain, which is what [the retailers] claim to do for their customers, they have broken that supply chain and they are now importing substandard products.” He also warned that importing eggs would undermine consumer confidence in Sainsbury’s.
More than two-thirds of consumers want to know where their food comes from, according to new research by RSPCA Assured. The research found that 70% of UK adults were concerned about the origins of the food they eat, while a further 69% said that farm animal welfare is a key issue for them. We’ll be seeing more and more food labels on meats to assure consumers that the animals were farmed humanely.
