The new portrait of King Charles, which raised eyebrows due to its bold red colour, has been vandalised by two protesters.
A video shows two eco-zealots from Animal Rising covering the monarch’s face with a Wallace and Gromit sticker at the Philip Mould Gallery in London.
One poster overlaid the King’s face with Wallace, from the popular Aardman stop-motion, whilst another was a speech bubble reading: “No Cheese, Gromit. Look At All This Cruelty On RSPCA Farms!”
The portrait was only released last month and was painted by contemporary artist Jonathan Yeo.
Animal Rising said its protest was about raising awareness of its damning investigation of 45 RSPCA Assured farms. They have asked the King to withdraw his support for the charity. They said the move played on the King’s love of Wallace and Gromit and his status as Royal Patron of the RSPCA.
The protestors have called on the King to suspend his support for the charity until they drop the Assured Scheme.
Daniel Juniper, former Early Years Practitioner and one of those involved said: “With King Charles being such a big fan of Wallace and Gromit, we couldn’t think of a better way to draw his attention to the horrific scenes on RSPCA Assured farms!
“Even though we hope this is amusing to His Majesty, we also call on him to seriously reconsider if he wants to be associated with the awful suffering across farms being endorsed by the RSPCA.
“Charles has made it clear he is sensitive to the suffering of animals in UK farms; now is the perfect time for him to step up and call on the RSPCA to drop the Assured Scheme and tell the truth about animal farming.”
Chris Packham, President of the RSPCA, has called on the charity to suspend the scheme and take a bolder stance to protect animals.
The report, released by Animal Rising on Sunday, contains investigations from 45 farms across the UK – including chickens, pigs, salmon, and trout.
The farms were randomly selected, with investigators finding cruelty and suffering at every single one. The scenes include dead and dying baby chickens, dead pigs left in farm walkways, and salmon being eaten alive by sea lice.
The report details an alleged 280 legal breaches and 94 breaches of DEFRA regulations, with Animal Rising calling on the RSPCA to drop the scheme.
Orla Coghlan, Former Children’s Nurse and Animal Rising Spokesperson said: “Just as Feathers McGraw fooled Wallace into a bank heist, the RSPCA has been fooling the British public into thinking their factory farms are – in any way – an acceptable place for animals to live. It’s clear from the scenes across 45 RSPCA Assured farms that there’s no kind way to farm animals.”