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Animal Welfare Group Rallies Outside Sonoma County Courthouse as Criminal Case Against Activists Advances

September 8, 2023

Press Democrat

King said the rally represented the “continued momentum and urgency” to respond to animal cruelty. “People aren’t giving up.”

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PRESS

Animal Welfare Group Rallies Outside Sonoma County Courthouse as Criminal Case Against Activists Advances

September 8, 2023

Press Democrat

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PRESS

The Latest Open Rescue Trial Is Now Underway. Here’s the Latest.

September 8, 2023

Sentient Media

Do people have a right to rescue animals from suffering? And, more than that, should animals have the right to live a life free of suffering? These questions could be answered by a Sonoma County trial now underway in Northern California.

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PRESS

The Latest Open Rescue Trial Is Now Underway. Here’s the Latest.

September 8, 2023

Sentient Media

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Submit Required Signatures to Put Factory Farm Ban on Ballot

September 5, 2023

Activists say voter enthusiasm is high for a ban on factory farms in Berkeley after submitting more than 4,900 signatures to the Berkeley city clerk today, a large overshoot beyond the 3,000 required to get the measure on the ballot.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Submit Required Signatures to Put Factory Farm Ban on Ballot

September 5, 2023

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BLOG

This Disabled Duck is at the Center of a Felony Case. His Name is Bruce.

August 30, 2023

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BLOG

This Disabled Duck is at the Center of a Felony Case. His Name is Bruce.

August 30, 2023

If you saw a little duckling on his back, paddling his legs and struggling to get back up, what would you do? Would you keep walking? Or would you help him? 

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PRESS

Why I’m Proud to Stand Trial Defending the Right to Rescue Animals

August 30, 2023

Waging Nonviolence

There is nothing right about a legal system that protects those hurting animals and punishes those trying to save them.

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PRESS

Why I’m Proud to Stand Trial Defending the Right to Rescue Animals

August 30, 2023

Waging Nonviolence

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PRESS

Direct Action Everywhere Activists Face Felony and Misdemeanor Charges

August 30, 2023

Daily Californian

“An open rescuer who removes sick animals from this facility should be able to successfully argue for a necessity defense against any charges of trespass or misappropriation,” University of California College of the Law, San Francisco professor Hadar Aviram wrote in a legal opinion.

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PRESS

Direct Action Everywhere Activists Face Felony and Misdemeanor Charges

August 30, 2023

Daily Californian

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PRESS

Opinion: Animal Rights Groups Say They Helped End Horse Racing at Golden Gate Fields

August 28, 2023

Berkeleyside

Activists at Berkeley-based Direct Action Everywhere and Stop Blood Sports say that years of pressure played a key role in ending the sport in the Bay Area.

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PRESS

Opinion: Animal Rights Groups Say They Helped End Horse Racing at Golden Gate Fields

August 28, 2023

Berkeleyside

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PRESS

Utah Officers Shut Down Animal Rights Activists. Now Their County Is Paying the Protesters Thousands.

August 15, 2023

Salt Lake Tribune

The settlement is a “tremendous victory for the animals as well as the constitutional rights we all cherish,” Jeremy Beckham, a spokesperson for the Utah coalition, said in a news release Monday.

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PRESS

Utah Officers Shut Down Animal Rights Activists. Now Their County Is Paying the Protesters Thousands.

August 15, 2023

Salt Lake Tribune

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PRESS

Beaver County Pays Pig Farm Pioneer Day Protesters More Than $52K in Federal Civil Rights Settlement

August 14, 2023

St. George News

“I’m happy that it’s a win for free speech in Beaver and I’m happy that these funds are going to go toward the animals,” [plaintiff Curtis] Vollmar said.

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PRESS

Beaver County Pays Pig Farm Pioneer Day Protesters More Than $52K in Federal Civil Rights Settlement

August 14, 2023

St. George News

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Our Top Press Hits

TOP PRESS

Activists Call It Rescue. Farms Call It Stealing. What Is ‘Open Rescue’?

August 7, 2023

National Geographic

These crusaders are part of the so-called “open rescue” movement, in which animal rights activists brazenly take animals from factory farm operations. Direct Action Everywhere—better known as DxE—is at the forefront of this movement in the United States...

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TOP PRESS

Dangerous Pathogens and Cruelty Law Violations at Perdue Subsidiary, Animal Rights Report Alleges

June 13, 2023

The Intercept

In conjunction with the release of an undercover investigation on the factory farm, the group DxE mounted an “open rescue” of birds from a slaughterhouse.

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TOP PRESS

Opinion: Utah Undermined the Jury System to Shield Big Ag from Scrutiny

March 30, 2023

Salt Lake Tribune

If government agencies were taking these [investigative] reports seriously and protecting animals from cruelty, there would be no need for bills like this. But certain Utah legislators have decided that the real problem with sick, suffering animals is the potential for negative publicity for the industry and so it is the industry, not the animals, that need protection.

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TOP PRESS

The Fight Against Factory Farming Is Winning Criminal Trials

March 21, 2023

Vox

DxE’s theory — that when you show a jury of ordinary citizens what happens to animals in the meat industry, they’ll agree that they deserve rescue — turned out to be true, challenging the idea that the animal rights agenda is radical or unpopular.

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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

‘Baywatch’s’ Alexandra Paul on Trial; Video Shows ‘Open Rescue’ of Foster Farms Chickens

March 9, 2023

LA Times

“We published this video within an hour with both my name and Alicia Santurio’s name attached to it because we believe what we’re doing is legal and morally right,” Paul said in an interview with The Times.

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TOP PRESS

Opinion: Rescuing Farm Animals from Cruelty Should Be Legal

February 14, 2023

New York Times

In any context other than factory farming, treating animals the way we see chickens treated in the Foster Farms slaughterhouse videos would be considered blatant cruelty. Many would also consider it cruel to stand by while someone else handled animals this way. “If there’s someone in my neighborhood watching me boil birds alive, we’d say this is monstrous behavior,” Wayne Hsiung, a founder of DxE, told me.

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TOP PRESS

I Snuck into a California Slaughterhouse to Film How They Kill Pigs. It Was Horrifying

February 9, 2023

San Francisco Chronicle

The message the pigs conveyed in the gas chamber footage is clear: They are in extreme pain, and they want to live. You don’t need the Agriculture Department to tell you that. You can see and hear it for yourself.

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TOP PRESS

Opinion: Spy Cams Show What the Pork Industry Tries to Hide

February 2, 2023

New York Times

“It was horrible cruelty to the pigs inside the chambers,” Jim Reynolds told me. “It’s a violation of federal law.” Reynolds is one of 90 veterinarians who signed an open letter saying that the process shown in the videos probably violates federal law on humane slaughter.

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DxE's Blog

BLOG

Cedar the Goat Shines a Light on the Dark Reality of 4-H and FFA

May 1, 2023

I have seen firsthand the trauma these programs inflict on children and the violence they inflict on animals. It’s time we reform 4-H and FFA to no longer include programs where kids raise animals to die.

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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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BLOG

Smithfield Trial Juror Speaks Up against New Anti-Rescue Bill in Utah

February 1, 2023

Utah legislators with ties to the Farm Bureau released House Bill 114, “Theft Defense Amendments,” in direct response to the outcome of the Smithfield Trial.

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BLOG

2023 Is Going to Be B.A.D.A.S.S.

January 28, 2023

In the first-ever Bay Area Direct Action Skill Share (B.A.D.A.S.S.), starting March 25, a cross-movement cohort of 100 activists will unite in Oakland for 5 days of intensive direct action training.

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BLOG

Inspiring Stories from 2022, Part 3

January 13, 2023

DxE Korea is unstoppable; disrupting the NBA playoffs gets people talking (and not just about sports); and a landmark verdict for the Right to Rescue

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BLOG

Inspiring Stories from 2022, Part 2

January 11, 2023

Keeping sanctuary animals safe; activists who saved chickens demand a date with the justice system; and Charlie, a piglet whose story touched thousands

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BLOG

Inspiring Stories from 2022, Part 1

January 10, 2023

Read how Dora saved herself, how "No More Factory Farms" was introduced as legislation in California, and why two brand-new activists decided to get loud for animal rights

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BLOG

Not Guilty by Reason of Humanity

December 13, 2022

The feeling of hearing those words “not guilty” after five long years of the uncertainty and judicial bureaucracy was indescribable. But mostly I felt proud. Proud of the jury, our legal team, and Direct Action Everywhere.

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BLOG

Court Update: The #SonomaTrial Is Finally on the Horizon

December 6, 2022

Preliminary hearings finally happened for Rachel and Jon. The prosecution argued that they were "co-conspirators" in the 2018 and 2019 rescues at Sonoma County factory farms. Judge Urioste agreed to send the case to trial on felony charges.

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Our Press Releases

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

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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PRESS RELEASE

Felony Charges Dismissed Against Beagle Rescuers

March 8, 2024

Today, in a stunning development, the State of Wisconsin moved to dismiss charges against three animal rights activists accused of rescuing three beagles from Ridglan Farms, one of the last two remaining large breeders of dogs for vivisection in the country. Judge Mario White granted the dismissal at a hearing this morning.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Ask Stanford to Never Again Buy Research Subjects from Abusive Dog Breeder

February 27, 2024

The demonstration highlighted the horrifying conditions in which Ridglan Farms confines thousands of beagles for experimentation... The action featured speeches from Stanford alumni and a former Stanford researcher.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Evoke “Chicken Run” in Retelling of Real-Life Rescues

January 27, 2024

Playing with characters and plot elements from the new film Chicken Run 2: Dawn of the Nugget, the protest featured “Zoe Rosenbird” coming to the rescue of sick, injured chickens and transforming the operation that tortured them into an animal sanctuary.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activist Sentenced to Jail for Rescuing Sick Animals from Factory Farms

November 30, 2023

The University of Denver’s Animal Activist Legal Defense Project is working on the appeal. Attorney Chris Carraway said, “I often hear courts describe trials as a search for the truth. Mr. Hsiung’s trial was anything but. The press had limited access; trial participants were unconstitutionally gagged from the beginning; and the court bent over backwards to prevent the defense from detailing the chronic animal cruelty found which informed the intent behind the actions."

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PRESS RELEASE

Berkeley Factory Farm Ban Qualifies for November 2024 Election

October 19, 2023

“The thousands of signatures we’ve collected this summer are a testament to how enthusiastic the people of Berkeley are about disassociating with these cruel industries that run counter to our values,” says Berkeley resident and DxE organizer Kitty Jones. “It is high time we move past a system of industrialized exploitation of animals.”

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Submit Required Signatures to Put Factory Farm Ban on Ballot

September 5, 2023

Activists say voter enthusiasm is high for a ban on factory farms in Berkeley after submitting more than 4,900 signatures to the Berkeley city clerk today, a large overshoot beyond the 3,000 required to get the measure on the ballot.

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PRESS RELEASE

Factory Farm Ban Likely to Be on Ballot After Activists Gather Required Signatures

August 1, 2023

"The vast majority of Berkeley voters that we've talked to care about animals and the planet and are eager to sign on to this initiative,” says Almira Tanner, lead organizer of DxE.

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