Animal welfare panel member steps down

The former head of Western Australia's RSPCA has stood down from a panel that will advise the government on animal welfare issues after it emerged he had criticised his ex-employer.

Agriculture Minister Ken Baston told parliament that Eric Ball had stood aside from the Animal Welfare Review Panel "at his own doing" after declaring a potential conflict of interest because of his past long-standing association with the RSPCA.

Mr Ball spent 18 years as its president and chair.

He reportedly criticised the direction of the RSPCA in a leaked report, questioning recent management practices.

Labor's Sue Ellery said Mr Ball's appointment to the panel was a mistake to start with.

"The fact that the minister appointed someone who has already a declared public opposition to the current leadership of the RSPCA is extraordinary," Ms Ellery told ABC radio.

While Mr Baston backs the Shooters and Fishers Party's calls for a parliamentary inquiry into the RSPCA, Premier Colin Barnett does not.

The state's only Shooters and Fishers MP, Rick Mazza, has suggested "animal rights ideology" is permeating the government-funded organisation.

But the RSPCA says his attack aims to divert attention from the party's proposal to allow recreational hunting on public land.