Mark Steele, the vice-president of RSPCA New South Wales, has resigned from the animal welfare organization, expressing his deep shame regarding the standards of RSPCA-certified chicken. In a statement shared on LinkedIn, Steele, who has been a volunteer board member since 2021 and served as a non-executive director of RSPCA Australia until March, announced his departure from the NSW branch effective at the end of September.
“"The RSPCA does much fine work," he stated. "But there is one thing I have long been ashamed to be associated with: the use of the RSPCA’s trusted brand, through the RSPCA Certified scheme, to certify the welfare of 97% of Australia meat chicken."
Context on Chicken Consumption in Australia
Chicken represents nearly half of all meat consumed in Australia, with consumption doubling over the past 30 years. Australians now eat an average of about 55 kg of chicken per person annually. Each year, approximately 800 million chickens are slaughtered for meat in Australia, predominantly from two fast-growing breeds that reach slaughter weight in just four to six weeks. Animal welfare experts have raised concerns that this rapid growth can lead to significant stress on the animals' bodies.
Most chicken produced in Australia carries the RSPCA Certified label, which is intended to assure consumers of higher welfare standards. Steele expressed concern that consumers might assume that the RSPCA logo guarantees a humane life and death for the chickens.
“"In my view, a shopper who sees that RSPCA logo would naturally assume – and ought to be entitled to assume – that the bird lived a good life and died a humane death," Steele remarked. "In my opinion, a life like that cannot fairly be called good; which is why I don’t buy this chicken."
