Queen‘s Brian May has announced that he has made the “painful decision” to resign from his role as RSPCA vice president.
The legendary guitarist and Queen bandmember had been serving as the vice president of The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) since 2012 and yesterday (September 27), May took to his official Instagram account to share a statement explaining his resignation.
“It is with profound sadness and not without massive soul-searching that today I have to offer my resignation as a vice-president of the RSPCA,” began the statement. “You have kept me informed through the Save-Me Trust of complaints that have been levelled in recent months at the RSPCA over appallingly bad standards of animal welfare in member farms of the RSPCA Assured scheme.”
He continued: “I have understood that the RSPCA needed time to evaluate the evidence and make decisions on action to be taken. But as more and more evidence comes to light, I find the RSPCA’s response completely inadequate.
“In line with the organisation’s core principles, and in the clear knowledge that supervision of the Assured scheme had failed and was continuing to fail, I feel the only acceptable policy would have been complete dismantling of the scheme. Instead, the RSPCA have tried to defend their position, and in doing so, in my view, have sacrificed their integrity.”
May went on to voice his support for the “For Charlie” campaign – which the likes of Ricky Gervais, Joanna Lumley, and Miriam Margoyles have also backed – which calls for the RSPCA to abandon the Assured scheme.
“I am in full acknowledgment of the wonderful work that the RSPCA has done over the years, and I am heartbroken to be withdrawing my support from the day-today work performed by so many heroes on the ground every day,” May wrote, adding: “I’m also aware of the danger of weakening the RSPCA, and playing into the hands of the pro-cruelty organisations which the RSPCA has been instrumental in prosecuting. But I cannot in all conscience remain a figurehead of the organisation while the RSPCA avoids its responsibility to put its house in order.
“I hope that the RSPCA and Save-Me Trust can continue to fight on the same side in the future, against the agencies of abuse against animals.”
The accompanying caption of May’s post read that it was: “A very sad day – and a painful decision to make.” He added that he believes that the RSPCA have had plenty of time to do the right thing but just tried to justify their position.
He continued: “A very hard decision, because of all the great things the RSPCA do, but in the end there was no other option for me.”
In other news, last week, the musician’s wife Anita Dobson shared an update on the musician after he recently suffered a stroke.
May had told fans about the health scare in a post on social media earlier this month, but said he was on the road to recovery. May explained that the “minor stroke” came on “all of a sudden, out of the blue”, and left him without any control over one of his arms. He said the incident was “a little scary” before recalling the “fantastic” medical care he’d received.
Speaking to The Sun‘s ‘Bizarre’ column, Dobson said (via Radio X): “He’s been told to rest. It’s hard to keep him resting, but he needs to, otherwise he won’t get well.” She continued: “He’s doing great – he’s on the road, he’s doing really, really well. We’re very pleased.”
Queen wrapped up a run of tour dates with Adam Lambert in February. They currently do not have any other concerts scheduled, meaning that May will have plenty of time to make a full recovery.
However, Queen Extravaganza, the official tribute band of Queen, are set to embark on a UK and Ireland tour in 2025. The upcoming shows will celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
In other news, Queen have announced a newly mixed, mastered and expanded reissue of their 1973 self-titled debut album.