The Advertising Standards Agency has cleared a series of RSPCA ad campaigns following an investigation.

A Youtube video, TV ad and a poster for the RSPCA were investigated by the advertising watchdog after complaints were made about the ads being ‘misleading’.

The campaigns featured various animals, including computer augmented cows, chickens and a pig in industrial farming facilities, an emaciated dog, a turtle in a suitcase and a racing greyhound singing Aretha Franklin’s version of the song ‘Respect’.

Text running alongside the ads said: “Every animal deserves our kindness. Respect. RSCPA for every kind.”

However Adfree Cities and other complainants said the ads misleadingly represented the welfare standards afforded to animals farmed under the RSCPA Assured Scheme.

The RSPCA said the purpose of the campaign was to encourage people to re-think their relationships with all animals and treat them with kindness and respect.

Following an investigation, the ASA said it considered that people “would understand the ads as reinforcing the RSPCA’s message that all animals should be respected”.

“They would expect the RSPCA’s own standards, including those that it approved for the RSPCA Assured scheme, to support the delivery of high-quality welfare to all animals, including farmed animals,” it said.

“We had not seen evidence that non-compliance with RSPCA Assured standards was a widespread issue in the RSPCA Assured scheme, so we concluded that the ads were unlikely to mislead about the care standards afforded to animals at RSPCA Assured farms.”

The RSPCA commissioned an independent report into the performance of the RSPCA Assured Scheme, following the allegations.

The report, published in October 2024, found that while some farms fell short of expectations, overall the scheme was operating ‘effectively’.

It said that while a number of farms had ‘fallen short’ of RSPCA’s standards, those practices were ‘unrepresentative’.

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