News

Breaking news and publications from Direct Action Everywhere.

Media inquiry? Please email press@dxe.io.

Featured

All News

PRESS

Involvement in Petaluma Poultry Farm Protests Debated in Closing Arguments

October 24, 2023

Press Democrat

Hsiung emphasized his intent to help struggling animals in the 2018 demonstration. But he denied involvement in the second one in 2019.

Read More

PRESS

Involvement in Petaluma Poultry Farm Protests Debated in Closing Arguments

October 24, 2023

Press Democrat

Read More

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.”

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

Berkeley Factory Farm Ban Qualifies for November 2024 Election

October 19, 2023

Read More

PRESS

The Open Rescue Movement for Farm Animals, Explained

October 19, 2023

Sentient Media

Perhaps the most well-known case of open rescue involves two piglets, Lily and Lizzie. Ill and underweight when they were found by activists at a Smithfield-owned (the largest pork producer in the U.S.) facility in Utah, Circle Four Farms, the pigs were rescued by activists and relocated to animal sanctuaries, which the FBI then raided in search of the pigs’ DNA.

Read More

PRESS

The Open Rescue Movement for Farm Animals, Explained

October 19, 2023

Sentient Media

Read More

PRESS

Activist: Goal Was to Rescue Chickens, Have Dialogue at Petaluma Poultry Farm

October 12, 2023

Press Democrat

An image of a chicken with an eye injury and that was believed to be too frail to flee humans was indicative of the chicken population at a poultry farm just outside Petaluma where activists held a protest in 2018, one of them told a jury Thursday.

Read More

PRESS

Activist: Goal Was to Rescue Chickens, Have Dialogue at Petaluma Poultry Farm

October 12, 2023

Press Democrat

Read More

PRESS

Five Horses Dead in Two Weeks at Golden Gate Fields

October 11, 2023

Daily Californian

A similar group of deaths occurred at Golden Gate Fields in November 2021, when four horses died over the course of a week. “This type of pattern is common for horse racing,” said Samantha Faye, lead organizer of Stop Blood Sports and spokesperson for DxE.

Read More

PRESS

Five Horses Dead in Two Weeks at Golden Gate Fields

October 11, 2023

Daily Californian

Read More

PRESS

Petaluma Farm Co-Owner Testifies Animal Welfare Activists ‘Startled’ Chickens

October 6, 2023

Press Democrat

[Direct Action Everywhere/DxE] argues they believed the animals were being mistreated. Referencing California’s animal cruelty laws, they contend they had the right to rescue animals in distress.

Read More

PRESS

Petaluma Farm Co-Owner Testifies Animal Welfare Activists ‘Startled’ Chickens

October 6, 2023

Press Democrat

Read More

PRESS

Court Watch: ‘Open Rescue’ Trial Underway

October 6, 2023

Davis Vanguard

In Deputy District Attorney Robert Waner’s opening statement, the prosecutor told jurors Hsiung and DxE activists believe that compassion should be extended to all animals.

Read More

PRESS

Court Watch: ‘Open Rescue’ Trial Underway

October 6, 2023

Davis Vanguard

Read More

PRESS

Sonoma Rescue Trial Defense Can't Show Animal Cruelty Video

October 6, 2023

UnchainedTV

The judge in the Sonoma rescue trial of animal rights activist Wayne Hsiung has ruled against allowing him to show videos of suffering ducks and chickens to the jury.

Read More

PRESS

Sonoma Rescue Trial Defense Can't Show Animal Cruelty Video

October 6, 2023

UnchainedTV

Read More

PRESS

Activist Tells Sonoma County Jury He Committed No Crime; Sought Only to Help Animals

October 5, 2023

North Bay Business Journal

Hsiung told jurors Thursday the activists support transparency and their ultimate goal is to expose mistreatment of animals. “You cannot fight a shadow with more shadows. You fight a shadow with light,” he said.

Read More

PRESS

Activist Tells Sonoma County Jury He Committed No Crime; Sought Only to Help Animals

October 5, 2023

North Bay Business Journal

Read More

Our Top Press Hits

TOP PRESS

Inside the Bold New Animal Liberation Movement: No Masks, No Regrets, All The Risks

November 7, 2017

Mother Jones

Read More

TOP PRESS

Rescue at Oakland Slaughterhouse Shows New, Potent Tactics of Growing Animal Rights Movement

November 1, 2017

The Intercept

Read More

TOP PRESS

The FBI’s Hunt for Two Missing Piglets Reveals the Federal Cover-Up of Barbaric Factory Farms

October 5, 2017

The Intercept

Read More

TOP PRESS

FBI raids animal shelters, searching for piglets rescued from factory farm, activists say

September 14, 2017

The Washington Post

Read More

TOP PRESS

Animal Welfare Groups Have a New Tool: Virtual Reality

July 6, 2017

The New York Times

Read More

TOP PRESS

‘Her head has been torn off’: Activists’ film alleges abuse at Costco-linked cage-free egg farm

October 20, 2016

The Washington Post

While the hens are not in cages, the video shows them crowded together, covered in feces and blood, struggling to breathe and attacking and even eating one other.

Read More

TOP PRESS

Animal Rights Group’s Video of Hens Raises Questions, but Not Just for Farms

January 8, 2015

The New York Times

An animal rights group released on Thursday a disturbing video of laying hens at a farm in Northern California that supplies eggs to Whole Foods and Organic Valley, among other retailers and distributors.

Read More

DxE's Blog

BLOG

Believing Is the First Step to Animal Liberation

September 10, 2024

If people do not believe that they can change a situation, they will never act to do so. If we do not believe that animal liberation is possible and that we can make it happen, it never will. In fact, animal agriculture and other unjust systems rely on our hopelessness and cynicism.

Read More

BLOG

Ten Things You Need to Know About the Company Trying to Put Me in Prison

April 29, 2024

My findings show that “No Antibiotics Ever” just means that the chickens are still experiencing severe infection but they aren’t receiving the medication they desperately need. In one barn at a Petaluma Poultry factory farm in Santa Rosa, more than 10% of the chickens died by the time they reached 5 weeks. That is more than double the accepted industry mortality rate.

Read More

BLOG

Newcomer's Perspective

December 26, 2023

The Sonoma County Court's actions didn't stop me but, instead, spurred me to further action just as it did for many others.

Read More

BLOG

I’m Facing over 20 Years in Prison for Rescuing Animals, But I Am Not Afraid

December 2, 2023

Whether I lose my freedom for days, weeks, months, or even years, it is worth it to give even one or two animals a chance to experience freedom for the first time in their entire lives.

Read More

BLOG

A Baby Chicken Taught Me to Never Give Up Hope. His Name is Vincent.

October 1, 2023

To everyone who doesn’t believe in a better world, I understand. I feel your pain and I know how hard it is to keep going in a world as painful as ours. But, just a glimmer of hope saved Vincent’s life and it might just save the rest of the animals, too. So please, don’t give up.

Read More

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? 

Read More

BLOG

Exposing Petaluma Poultry

July 1, 2023

Since 2018, DxE investigators have documented routine violations of California's animal cruelty laws at Petaluma Poultry factory farms, but the authorities refuse to intervene -- so they are taking action themselves to rescue the animals.

Read More

BLOG

A Letter to the Editor Re: "Churchill Downs to Cease Racing as It Investigates Deaths of Horses"

June 5, 2023

Your story on the shutdown of the Kentucky Derby racetrack failed to provide important context: the growing worldwide movement to abolish horseracing.

Read More

BLOG

Free Speech under Attack in Rural America

May 23, 2023

During my time in Utah, I found people willing to have open and honest discussions. Why, then, are high-ranking members of the Church and the police attempting to stop that from happening? Could it be that egregious abuses documented by DxE at Smithfield were getting too close to those in power? When open dialogue threatens a power structure, it’s time to scrutinize that power structure.

Read More

Our Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE

Golden Gate Fields Horse Racing Track to Shut Down Following Years of Protests

July 17, 2023

“This closure is a win for horses and for vulnerable humans who are taken advantage of by the gambling industry,” says Rocky Chau, a DxE activist who was arrested during a protest on the GGF track in March 2021.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

Waves of People Rescue Sick Animals from Perdue's Petaluma Poultry Slaughterhouse, Following an Investigation Finding Rampant Abuse and Disease

June 13, 2023

Hundreds are gathered outside the slaughterhouse calling on the Sonoma County District Attorney to prosecute Petaluma Poultry for documented criminal animal cruelty and infectious diseases that are endangering public health

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

Mice and Fish Rescued from Petco During Animal Liberation March in San Francisco

June 10, 2023

While hundreds rallied in support of the right to rescue animals from abuse, a few activists delivered “feeder” mice and suffering betta fish to safety.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

Trial Finally Scheduled for Animal Rights Activists Facing Felonies for Rescues in Sonoma County

May 31, 2023

Recent similar trials in St. George, UT and Merced, CA resulted in groundbreaking acquittals for open rescuers.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

NY Congresswoman Calls on FBI to Investigate Animal Rescue

May 5, 2023

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney wants federal funds used to surveil people who support rescuing animals in distress.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

Sebastopol City Council Passes Historic Resolution to Support Factory Farm Investigators Facing Prison Time in Sonoma County

May 3, 2023

Animal rights activists are calling this a win for the right to rescue animals from abuse.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Activist Found Guilty for Leafleting about Factory Farms

April 25, 2023

A Beaver County Judge convicted Curtis Vollmar of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct for talking to members of the public about Smithfield Foods.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

UC Law Summit Explores Impact and Implications of Historic Animal Rights Trial

April 24, 2023

The “Right to Rescue” is a hot topic after a California jury acquitted two activists who removed sick birds from a Foster Farms slaughter truck. Jurors, defendants, attorneys, and law professors gathered to discuss the verdict's meaning for laws related to corporate animal abuse, animal rescue, and animal personhood.

Read More

PRESS RELEASE

Chicken Rescuers Acquitted in Historic “Right to Rescue” Case

April 16, 2023

A California jury found two women “not guilty” for rescuing sick birds from a Foster Farms slaughter truck.

Read More