In a shock move, the RSPCA has reinstated a controversial chicken-catching gang, despite being the subject of an undercover investigation by Animal Justice Project in October 2023. The reinstatement comes amid significant backlash regarding the charity’s farm animal welfare standards, highlighted in today’s coverage by Independent and BBC News.
The chicken-catching gang, employed by AD Harvey, was previously documented engaging in cruel and inhumane treatment of chickens, footage of which was featured in major outlets including Mail Online, Scottish Farmer, Metro, Express and Mirror. The charity is currently under fire from a coalition of 60+ NGOs, celebrities, former RSPCA Board members and vets who are calling for the RSPCA to cut ties with its Assured scheme.
The announcement regarding AD Harvey is likely to provoke strong reactions from campaigners, who argue that every RSPCA Assured farm or practice they have documented undercover has revealed a pattern of widespread abuses—violating both animal welfare standards and legal regulations.
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Despite this, the RSPCA, in an email to Animal Justice Project dated 26 September 2024, defended its decision, claiming that AD Harvey had made “significant changes to improve bird welfare” and had passed all relevant assessments. The charity stated: “As an animal welfare charity, we are duty-bound to help improve the welfare of farm animals, including assisting those who have erred in making things right for the benefit of the animals.”
Claire Palmer, Director of Animal Justice Project, strongly refutes this claim, stating: “There is no ‘humane’ way to catch tens of thousands of chickens at breakneck speeds in the middle of the night. This is an inherently cruel process that should never bear the RSPCA Assured label.”
History of Abuses
Animal Justice Project’s investigation into AD Harvey in 2023 exposed disturbing instances of cruelty, with workers filmed kicking, throwing, and violently handling hens. The gang was observed catching up to five hens at a time, with birds often sustaining injuries, including broken bones, bruising, and suffocation due to the brutal handling practices. These actions contravened multiple animal welfare regulations, including the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007, the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and DEFRA’s Code of Practice for the Welfare of Laying Hens and Pullets.
The footage revealed:
Hens violently swung by their legs and kicked or slammed into crates.
Crates forcibly closed on hens’ wings, legs, and heads.
Workers catching multiple birds in one hand, violating handling guidelines.
Repeated acts of violence, including hitting birds with feeders and crates.
The chickens, sourced from farms in Leicestershire, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Bedfordshire, were transported to AD Harvey’s abattoir in Norfolk under RSPCA approval. The undercover footage, captured at Kettleby Farm in Leicestershire, shows some of the most shocking scenes ever documented, with up to 30,000 hens caught in one night and crammed into crates by the dozen.
A Call for Action
“The RSPCA’s claim that AD Harvey has improved after these egregious acts is simply not credible,” says Palmer. “Their assurance scheme has failed time and time again. How can the public trust RSPCA Assured when such blatant abuses are permitted to continue?”
Animal Justice Project continues to urge the RSPCA to sever ties with its Assured scheme, which has consistently been associated with animal welfare failures, and instead focus on promoting a future free from animal farming, which is responsible for widespread suffering and environmental degradation.
Animal Justice Project is an animal rights NGO campaigning on farmed animal issues with over 200,000 followers.
