An official portrait of King Charles III has been attacked in a protest over animal rights.
Members of ‘Animal Rising’ stuck a picture of cartoon character Wallace on the painting while they were filmed by others.
They also attached a speech balloon, reading ”No cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms.”
The group released images and video of the protest on social media and later followed up with a video in which they imposed the Wallace face and speech bubble on the portrait at the official unveiling.
It follows a report released by Animal Rising several days ago which investigated RSPCA Assured farms. It said it found disturbing conditions at 45 farms and video footage, obtained secretly, showed images including dying chicks and fish with missing eyes.
The RSPCA said it would investigate the allegations but would not suspend the Assured farms scheme.
The King is the patron of the RSPCA.
The portrait, by Jonathan Yeo, was targeted in the Philip Mould gallery where it has been hanging since it was revealed publicly several weeks ago.
One of the protesters, Daniel Juniper, said he hoped the protest would ”amuse” King Charles. He added ”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.”
The RSPCA said it was ‘shocked and added ”we welcome scrutiny of our work but we cannot condone illegal activity of any kind…Animal Rising’s sustained activity is distracting from our focus on the work that really matters – helping thousands of animals every day.”
The portrait is believed to be protected by a layer of perspex.
