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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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PRESS

Foster Farms Chicken Rescuers Found Not Guilty

March 17, 2023

Turlock Journal

“Baywatch” star Alexandra Paul and Alicia Santurio were acquitted of misdemeanor theft charges by a 12-person jury in Merced on Friday for their actions in September 2021 when they “rescued” two chickens from a truck that was heading into a Livingston slaughterhouse owned by Foster Farms.

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PRESS

Foster Farms Chicken Rescuers Found Not Guilty

March 17, 2023

Turlock Journal

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PRESS

Activists Acquitted in 'Right to Rescue' Case

March 17, 2023

ABC 30

Paul testified that she saw video of animal cruelty at the facility and was forced to act, claiming her actions were legally and morally right.

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PRESS

Activists Acquitted in 'Right to Rescue' Case

March 17, 2023

ABC 30

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PRESS

Former ‘Baywatch’ Actress Alexandra Paul ‘Not Guilty’ in Foster Farms Case in Merced

March 17, 2023

Fresno Bee

“I will continue to do my investigatory work if I find a sick animal,” she said. “I can’t rescue them all. And we are hoping that public opinion will be the thing that turns the tide. People are realizing this is wrong, and we can’t do this anymore.”

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PRESS

Former ‘Baywatch’ Actress Alexandra Paul ‘Not Guilty’ in Foster Farms Case in Merced

March 17, 2023

Fresno Bee

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PRESS

Trial Begins For ‘Baywatch’ Star Who Rescued Chickens Destined For Slaughter

March 10, 2023

Plant Based News

In September 2021, Paul and Santurio took two chickens from the truck before carrying them to a waiting car. Footage of the “open rescue” (a rescue of which details are made publicly available) was subsequently released by DxE.

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PRESS

Trial Begins For ‘Baywatch’ Star Who Rescued Chickens Destined For Slaughter

March 10, 2023

Plant Based 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

Tulare County Dairy Farms Are Poisoning Latino Communities

May 20, 2022

Over the last few decades, the Central Valley of California has become plagued by the crisis of dirty drinking water contaminated with nitrates. Latino communities have been disproportionately affected. In the heart of the valley lies Tulare County, a majority Latino district and the largest dairy producing county in the nation.

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BLOG

The Case for Systemic Change

May 5, 2022

This is a response to a recent study by Faunalytics regarding the impacts of protest on diet change.

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BLOG

Glue, Chains, and Guts: A Recipe for Virality

April 14, 2022

High profile sporting events pose a significant opportunity to get eyeballs on a topic– if one is bold enough to risk criminal charges and bodily harm. And it's a tactic that has been used throughout history.

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BLOG

5 Tips for Time Management and Organization

February 2, 2022

Tip #1: You need an organizational system that you understand and use every day.

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BLOG

Stories to Inspire Part 3

January 8, 2022

These stories first appeared in a series of emails sent to DxE supporters in a countdown to 2022. The stories recap some of our biggest achievements in 2021, and also shine a light on some of the little details that don’t usually get the appreciation they deserve. We hope you find them as inspiring as we do.

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BLOG

Stories to Inspire Part 2

January 7, 2022

These stories first appeared in a series of emails sent to DxE supporters in a countdown to 2022. The stories recap some of our biggest achievements in 2021, and also shine a light on some of the little details that don’t usually get the appreciation they deserve. We hope you find them as inspiring as we do.

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BLOG

Stories to Inspire Part 1

January 6, 2022

These stories first appeared in a series of emails sent to DxE supporters in a countdown to 2022. The stories recap some of our biggest achievements in 2021, and also shine a light on some of the little details that don’t usually get the appreciation they deserve. We hope you find them as inspiring as we do.

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BLOG

The trial of open rescue

November 10, 2021

Seven years after founding the DxE Open Rescue Network, I finally go to trial. Here's why it matters.

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BLOG

A Small Win for Activism in Sonoma County

October 28, 2021

Following public outrage, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau cancelled their "Beyond the Fence Line" event intended to teach farmers how to "manage activists."

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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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