The Charity Commission has ordered the RSPCA to hire auditors for an inquiry into its structure and governance.
The announcement comes a day after the animal welfare charity said that it would overhaul its private prosecutions.
A commission spokesman said: “We have recommended that the charity conduct an externally led, independent governance review. This will enable them to regularise current governance issues with the charity.”
The RSPCA board voted unanimously at a meeting last week in favour of the commission’s request.
Two trustees, Christopher Laurence and Sally Phillips, have given up their posts in the past five months. Mr Laurence wrote in his resignation letter: “I have recently spent much time agonising over my continuance as a trustee and the potential risks to my personal reputation as a trustee of several other charities. I have regretfully come to the conclusion that I can no longer be perceived to support the current arrangements.”
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Ms Phillips wrote of her concern with the “behaviour of the officers of the RSPCA and the selection group” whose task it was to find a new chief executive. She strongly criticised the charity’s “appalling” decision to allow another trustee, David Canavan, to continue as acting chief executive for two years.
The commission spokesman confirmed that the organisation had been “aware of the trustees’ resignation”. On Monday the RSPCA, which is the country’s largest private prosecutor, said that it would substantially alter its approach to bringing private cases for cruelty to animals.
The charity, which has faced years of criticism from MPs and campaigners that it is overzealous and pursues criminal inquiries based on vested interests, has said that it will drop many contentious practices.
In an unusual effort to silence its critics, it has also promised to use the Oxford English Dictionary definition of suffering to clarify when a prosecution is needed.
Huntsmen, farmers and animal sanctuaries will be spared as the charity turns the spotlight on pet owners.
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Critics welcomed the reforms but warned that the charity should stop prosecutions altogether because of the suspicion that it was bringing people to court to increase publicity for its fundraising. The charity says that its prosecutions department is independent of its campaigning and publicity divisions.