In an effort to bring attention to animal abuse, two vegan activists from the Animal Rising organisation vandalised a portrait of King Charles III on Tuesday (June 11) in the Philip Mould Gallery on Pall Mall.
Stickers with images of Wallace and Gromit were plastered on the portrait created by British artist Jonathan Yeo.
Footage from the incident shows demonstrators using rollers to put a picture of Wallace and a line from the animated show: "No cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) farms."
The activists used the photo to draw attention to what they called the "indefensible" working conditions on farms that are RSPCA Assured, a problem that was discovered during an Animal Rising investigation.
The activist organisation released a statement defending their choice of target, pointing to the King's status as the Royal Patron of the RSPCA as well as his well-known love of Wallace and Gromit.
One of the protestors involved Daniel Juniper 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.”
In response to Animal Rising's allegations, the RSPCA released a statement saying: “RSPCA Assured is acting swiftly to look into these allegations [...] Any concerns about welfare on RSPCA Assured certified farms are taken extremely seriously.”
Who are Animal Rising?
According to the social movement group's website, Animal Rising aims to rebuild our relationship with all living things and provide us with a sustainable, ecological future.
The non-violent group's main demands are for a widespread rewilding programme in addition to the switch to a safe and sustainable plant-based food system.
Vandalising King Charles’ portrait isn’t the group’s first time making headlines.
Animal Rising protestors delayed last year's Grand National at Aintree by fifteen minutes after a few of them scaled a a fence and entered the racecourse. Animal Rising has also held demonstrations in Ayr and Doncaster.
118 activists were detained before, during, or after the race the previous year, when Sandy Thomson's Hill Sixteen was fatally injured at the first fence.
Other interruptions include disrupting the 2022 trooping the colour parade, running into the Mall and throwing themselves in front of the procession. This was in a renewed protest against the royal family’s support of animal agriculture.
The group’s actions go back to 2019, when they organised a wave of civil disobedience in London and Berlin, in parallel with Extinction Rebellion protests.
The following year, they organised September 2020 protests in the UK, Ireland, and the Czech Republic. One example of this was the siege of a pig abattoir close to Manchester, England.
They group also vandalised the Trafalgar Square fountain in London by colouring the water red, leading to two arrests and a charge for the council to clear the water.
This was a protest against the Queen's attempts to have her land excluded from a programme to reduce carbon emissions, as well as the usage of Crown grounds for hunting and animal agriculture.
