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Animal Activist Disrupts Moolah Shriners Circus, Gets Cuffed

March 28, 2023

Riverfront Times

Sydney Sager kept shouting "drop all animal acts" even while being pushed out of the ring. [Moolah Shriners Circus] has "a long list of violations, ranging from emaciated animals to terrorizing exotic animals with violent training."

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PRESS

Animal Activist Disrupts Moolah Shriners Circus, Gets Cuffed

March 28, 2023

Riverfront Times

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PRESS

The Circus Is Returning to St. Charles This Week. But the Elephants Aren’t.

March 23, 2023

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

At last year’s circus, Direct Action Everywhere tried to stop traffic at the Family Arena. On Thanksgiving, they marched in a parade downtown behind the Shriners’ tiny automobiles, chanting into bullhorns. “We were pretty consistent. They could not get away from us,” said activist Sasha Zemmel. “We just kept upping the antics.”

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PRESS

The Circus Is Returning to St. Charles This Week. But the Elephants Aren’t.

March 23, 2023

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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BLOG

Our 2023 Story

March 23, 2023

As we tear down the industry, we lift up animals. We show the world the violence that must be left in the past, and the beauty the future can hold.

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BLOG

Our 2023 Story

March 23, 2023

We have the momentum and we cannot stop now. 2023 will bring more open rescues, more bold actions, and more trials. As we tear down the industry, we lift up animals. We show the world the violence that must be left in the past, and the beauty the future can hold.

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PRESS

‘Baywatch’ Actress Alexandra Paul Found Not Guilty in Chickens Theft Case

March 22, 2023

Inside Edition

Paul and a companion ruffled feathers when they rescued two chickens on their way to a poultry food processing plant in California.

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PRESS

‘Baywatch’ Actress Alexandra Paul Found Not Guilty in Chickens Theft Case

March 22, 2023

Inside Edition

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‘Baywatch’ Star Used Loophole to Beat Chicken-Stealing Charges, Merced DA Says

March 21, 2023

Fresno Bee

Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira said she wants to set the record straight about “rescuing” farm animals. It’s illegal and you will be prosecuted.

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‘Baywatch’ Star Used Loophole to Beat Chicken-Stealing Charges, Merced DA Says

March 21, 2023

Fresno Bee

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TOP PRESS

Former TV Star, Now a Chicken ‘Rescuer,’ Found Not Guilty of Foster Farms Theft

March 20, 2023

LA Times

“This is a victory for [the chickens] Ethan, Jax, and all other living beings subjected to abuse by corporations like Foster Farms,” Santurio said in a news release from Direct Action Everywhere. “I have so much love for the chickens in my family and I want all animals to experience that safety and respect.”

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TOP PRESS

Former TV Star, Now a Chicken ‘Rescuer,’ Found Not Guilty of Foster Farms Theft

March 20, 2023

LA Times

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PRESS

Merced Jury Acquits Animal Activists

March 20, 2023

Sacramento Bee

“This is how we shape history, by using our privileges to confront unjust industries that exploit animals,” said Alexandra Paul, a former Baywatch star who, along with Alicia Santurio, was found not guilty by 12 jurors.

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PRESS

Merced Jury Acquits Animal Activists

March 20, 2023

Sacramento Bee

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PRESS

Animal Activists Rally in Petaluma to Support Activists Accused of Crimes

March 19, 2023

Petaluma Argus Courier

“It’s inspiring to see how much support there is in the county and beyond to see what happens in this trial,” said Cassandra King, 25, one of the defendants charged in the Sonoma County incidents.

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PRESS

Animal Activists Rally in Petaluma to Support Activists Accused of Crimes

March 19, 2023

Petaluma Argus Courier

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PRESS

Jury Finds Baywatch Actress and Bay Advocate Not Guilty of Theft for Rescuing Injured Chickens from Outside Foster Farms Slaughterhouse

March 18, 2023

Davis Vanguard

“This is a victory for Ethan, Jax, and all other living beings subjected to abuse by corporations like Foster Farms,” said Alicia Santurio. “I have so much love for the chickens in my family and I want all animals to experience that safety and respect.”

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PRESS

Jury Finds Baywatch Actress and Bay Advocate Not Guilty of Theft for Rescuing Injured Chickens from Outside Foster Farms Slaughterhouse

March 18, 2023

Davis Vanguard

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Our Top Press Hits

TOP PRESS

These California and Colorado Ballot Measures Are Terrifying the Meat Industry

October 10, 2024

Vox

In principle, there’s a lot of sense in capping the size of factory farms. Measure J’s proponents are betting that progressive Sonoma County, better known for its tasting rooms than its slaughterhouses, can push California — and the nation — in that direction.

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TOP PRESS

Secret Recordings Capture the Ugly Reality Inside a Denver Slaughterhouse

October 9, 2024

The Intercept

Videos shared with The Intercept prior to the report’s public release show, among other scenes, lambs with their throats slit hanging upside down and thrashing on the slaughter line; one animal with an internal organ that has been torn inside-out and left dangling behind it as it heads to slaughter; injured lambs being led to slaughter; workers laughing, spanking animals, and engaging in simulated sex acts with nearby machinery as lambs are having their throats slit; and the apparent use of so-called Judas sheep — adult sheep kept alive at the facility and used to lead the young sheep to slaughter.

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TOP PRESS

Sonoma Loves Its Farms. Activists Call Them Factories. Could a Ballot Measure Upend This County?

August 30, 2024

San Francisco Chronicle

In dimly lit indoor aisles at Weber Family Farms in Petaluma, hundreds of thousands of white chickens live out their 90 weeks of life. They fly from perch to perch. They dust bathe in the bedding. They nip at water dispensers. They lay egg after egg. And they never leave. These barns are at the heart of a bitter fight that Mike Weber and Samantha Faye are waging for the future of local farming.

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TOP PRESS

Groups Seek to Ban Large-Scale Animal Farming in Sonoma County

April 4, 2024

Los Angeles Times

Lewis Bernier, an animal rights activist supporting the initiative, said he has visited several factory farms across the country, documenting inhumane treatment, and one farm in Sonoma County stands out as having “the worst and most systemic animal cruelty that I’ve ever seen.”

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TOP PRESS

An Animal-Rights Activist and the Problem of Political Despair

March 15, 2024

The New Yorker

Instead of planning actions, many activists now spend their time litigating microaggressions and small disputes within their ranks... As a response, [DxE co-founder Wayne] Hsiung has tried to promote a maxim of "braver spaces, not safer spaces," which encourages the animal rights community to put aside their individual concerns, if possible, and do things like risk felony jail time for the cause.

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TOP PRESS

A California Town Will Vote on Banning Factory Farms. What Does That Mean for the Rest of the US?

January 30, 2024

The Guardian

If successful in Berkeley, a liberal San Francisco Bay Area town that’s often been at the forefront of US environmental policy, the method can be replicated elsewhere, [activists] say. “We can pave the path to abolishing factory farming,” said Cassie King, an organizer with Direct Action Everywhere, one of the groups that pushed for the measure.

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TOP PRESS

You’re More Likely to Go to Prison for Exposing Animal Cruelty Than for Committing It

November 9, 2023

Vox

Hsiung’s trial and conviction show the extraordinary difficulty of trying to discuss what happens to animals on factory farms in a legal system that only sees them as property. At both factory farms in this case, DxE had documented gruesome conditions prior to their open rescue actions and had submitted animal cruelty complaints to authorities (though no action was taken by legal officials, King said). Yet it was the activists, not the farm owners, who were criminally charged and had to explain themselves to a jury.

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TOP PRESS

This Is the Ops Manual for the Most Tech-Savvy Animal Liberation Group in the US

November 8, 2023

Wired

For the first time, guerrilla animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere reveals a guide to its investigative tactics and toolkit, from spy cams to night vision and drones. Bernier says that DxE decided to publicly release its guide, even in the wake of Hsiung’s conviction, to help activists who are already committed to carrying out covert investigations do their work more safely and effectively.

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TOP PRESS

Animal Rights Activist Convicted of Felony for Rescuing Sick Chickens

November 4, 2023

The Intercept

Hsiung’s defense was in many ways stymied from the jump. The judge barred almost all photo and video evidence of animal cruelty from the trial, as has been the case in a number of previous DxE trials. As I’ve previously noted, the decision to disallow such evidence is usually made to benefit a defendant — not showing gruesome images of a murder victim, for example. Such logic has been flipped in DxE cases, including Hsiung’s most recent, to the benefit of powerful agribusiness.

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DxE's Blog

BLOG

A River in New Zealand Has Just Been Granted Personhood! Is it Time to Extend the Same Courtesy to Animals?

March 17, 2017

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BLOG

Animal Rights News Recap 3/17/2017

March 17, 2017

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BLOG

Animal Rights Activist Profile: Kitty Jones

March 15, 2017

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BLOG

Animal Rights News Recap 3/20/17

March 10, 2017

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BLOG

Cal Student Animal Rescuers Are Speaking the Truth

March 9, 2017

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BLOG

Animal Rights Activist Profile: Ateret Goldman

March 8, 2017

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BLOG

Animal Abusers Are Running Scared, As They Should Be

March 6, 2017

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BLOG

The Real Story Is Getting Out - Ateret Speaks About Flower Protest

March 3, 2017

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BLOG

Animal Rights News Recap 3/3/2017

March 3, 2017

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Our Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Activists Create Giant “Death for Dinner” Display Outside Oakland Safeway

December 14, 2024

Activists covered in fake blood lay down on a giant “plate” to bring attention to the violence behind serving dead animals as food during the holidays. Protestors also called on Safeway to cut ties with Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry, where undercover investigations have exposed sick and injured animals left without care.

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PRESS RELEASE

Berkeley Becomes First U.S. City to Ban Factory Farms

November 12, 2024

A coalition of groups, including the Berkeley-based animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) and Compassionate Bay, led the effort to gather the signatures to get this CAFO ban on the ballot.

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PRESS RELEASE

Trial Scheduled for Animal Rescuer

November 1, 2024

Zoe Rosenberg, 22, faces criminal charges for rescuing chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse in Petaluma, CA

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PRESS RELEASE

Investigators Publish Full Day of Slaughter Footage at Superior Farms, Exposing Routine Cruelty and Violence

October 29, 2024

Superior Farms is the largest industrial lamb slaughterhouse in the country, and is the subject of Ordinance 309 in Denver, an initiative on the November ballot introduced by Pro-Animal Future that would ban slaughterhouses within city limits

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PRESS RELEASE

Prosecutors Concede Evidence Doesn’t Support Felony in Animal Rescue Case

August 20, 2024

Charges to be Dismissed for Third Time in Perdue Chicken Rescue Case

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PRESS RELEASE

Food Network Chef Tyler Florence Cuts Ties with Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry, Following Repeated Protests

August 15, 2024

Animal rights activists with Direct Action Everywhere disrupted Florence at events across the country in recent months calling for the move

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Disrupt Food Network Chef Tyler Florence’s Restaurant, Over Ties to Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry

July 20, 2024

On Saturday evening, animal rights activists protested inside and outside of Miller & Lux, an upscale steakhouse in Mission Bay that is owned by celebrity chef Tyler Florence. The protesters were calling on Florence to cut ties with Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry. They marched and chanted through the restaurant, holding signs that read “Drop Petaluma Poultry” and “Stop Supporting Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry’s Criminal Animal Abuse.”

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PRESS RELEASE

Massive Barn Fire Kills Tens of Thousands of Chickens at Demler Brothers Egg Ranch

July 19, 2024

The Ramona factory farm was the site of a 2019 animal cruelty investigation by Direct Action Everywhere

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PRESS RELEASE

Judge Dismisses Multiple Felonies Against Animal Rescuer

May 13, 2024

Berkeley student in Perdue poultry case now faces 1 felony and 3 misdemeanors

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