The Badger Trust has criticised the RSPCA for indicating it will become less political and said that it looks “like a capitulation” following pressure from the government.

Reacting to an interview with the RSPCA’s chief executive, Jeremy Cooper, in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph, the Badger Trust said it was “dismayed” by Cooper’s assertion that the RSPCA will be less political in future and is concerned about specific comments he made relating to badgers.

Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Badger Trust, yesterday said: “We fully recognise the extraordinary pressure being put on the RSPCA to drop its opposition to badger culling by the government and their supporters in the farming and countryside lobby. However, the Badger Trust is a much smaller charity and we have taken a far more robust stance against exactly the same kind of intimidation from these powerful vested interests.

“We are very concerned that these statements look like a capitulation in the face of this pressure and could potentially represent a betrayal of the RSPCA's founding charitable aims and objectives.”

He added that his charity is particularly concerned by comments that “badgers 'need to be managed', as the scientific basis for this is very weak and increasingly being challenged regarding the control of bovine TB” and that “we would hope the RSPCA would continue to support vaccination as the only acceptable form of managing TB in this highly protected species”.

Peter Martin, chair of the Badger Trust, said: “The RSPCA is in danger of seriously misjudging the mood of the British public when it comes to wildlife protection.” And that: “Any move by the RSPCA to weaken its campaigning and lobbying to stop badger culling or fox hunting will come as a slap in the face to the millions of people across the UK who provide funding and support for the charity in order to protect our precious wildlife."

One of monitors who collected evidence allowing the RSPCA to prosecute the Heythrop Hunt in 2012 has started an online petition calling for Cooper to be sacked. Almost 7,000 people have signed it so far.

Yesterday an RSPCA spokesman said it "accepted it sometimes got the tone wrong" but said it would "make no apologies for prosecuting people in instances where there is clear evidence of animal cruelty".

"We can assure you the RSPCA remains as committed as ever to speaking out for vulnerable animals. We make no apologies for our campaigning work which has resulted in the introduction and amendment of many laws to protect our pets, wildlife, farm animals and animals used in research.

"Following an independent review of our prosecution activity and in line with one of the recommendations of that review, RSPCA trustees agreed to change its policy and to pass suitable cases involving traditional hunts and suitable farm cases to the police for investigation enabling the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute if appropriate. However, we reserve the right to proceed with such investigations, if the authorities fail to act."

The spokeswoman said the charity stands by its successful prosecution of the Heythrop Hunt.

"We are also pleased that the number of prosecutions have dropped over recent years, highlighting that welfare is improving and educational messages are more available. We hope this is a trend that will continue," she said.

But she apologised for the "specific incidents where we have got it wrong".

"As a charity we have limited resources and we are dealing with huge numbers of calls. We apologise for past mistakes where an investigation wasn’t carried out to the standard we would hope, both for the animal involved and their owners. The RSPCA has and always will be committed to tackling cruelty to animals."