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‘Groundbreaking’ Vote to Ban Factory Farming to Be Held in U.S. County

March 28, 2024

Plant Based News

“Sonoma County is a beautiful place with strong values around protecting animals and the environment. Unfortunately, dozens of factory farms are operating counter to the public’s values,” DxE communications lead Cassie King told Plant Based News (PBN). “Now, ordinary people are uniting and utilizing a form of direct democracy to end factory farming in Sonoma County.”

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PRESS

‘Groundbreaking’ Vote to Ban Factory Farming to Be Held in U.S. County

March 28, 2024

Plant Based News

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PRESS

Measure Seeking to Limit Size of Sonoma County Livestock and Poultry Farms Qualifies for Ballot

March 27, 2024

Press Democrat

“Our key volunteers are all local,” [supporter Kristina] Garfinkel said. “As a local myself, this is such an important issue. I’m from Santa Rosa. I drive by these CAFOs every day and smell the air. We do have support from other regional partners. CAFOs are a ubiquitous problem, so of course it will draw interest from other groups.”

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PRESS

Measure Seeking to Limit Size of Sonoma County Livestock and Poultry Farms Qualifies for Ballot

March 27, 2024

Press Democrat

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PRESS

When Is It Permissible to Rescue a Dog in Peril?

March 21, 2024

The Bulwark

[Defendant Wayne Hsiung said] the dismissal affirmed something he and his co-defendants “always knew to be true,” namely: “If a jury of our peers heard testimony and saw the videos from inside Ridglan Farms, they would revolt against the notion that we’re the ones who have committed crimes, rather than the company.”

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PRESS

When Is It Permissible to Rescue a Dog in Peril?

March 21, 2024

The Bulwark

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PRESS

Animal Rights Activists Protest Downtown against Ridglan Farms

March 18, 2024

WKOW.com

"I think most Americans, most people in Wisconsin, want dogs to be protected from torture," said beagle rescuer Wayne Hsiung. "That's not happening right now."

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PRESS

Animal Rights Activists Protest Downtown against Ridglan Farms

March 18, 2024

WKOW.com

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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

An Animal-Rights Activist and the Problem of Political Despair

March 15, 2024

The New Yorker

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PRESS

Berkeley Resident Charged for Beagle Rescue Mission

March 13, 2024

KRON4

“I find it very frustrating. Honestly, I was very excited to go before a jury and let them hear the facts of the case,” said Berkeley native and Defendant Paul Darwin Picklesimer in an interview with KRON4. “It was absolutely shocking and disgusting to see what we saw. You walk in, and you get hit with a stench of all the fecal matter and the lights that are on in the middle of the night. You see that these poor dogs are just in these wire cages, spending their whole life there until they’re sold into experimentation."

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PRESS

Berkeley Resident Charged for Beagle Rescue Mission

March 13, 2024

KRON4

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PRESS

Direct Action Everywhere Protests Death of 3-Year-Old Filly, Moves for Golden Gate Fields Closure

March 12, 2024

Daily Californian

DxE Director of Communications Cassie King alleged that Golden Gate Fields crowds animals together in stables with “poor conditions” for the majority of the day. She added that DxE believes this treatment is “out of touch” with the surrounding community’s values.

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PRESS

Direct Action Everywhere Protests Death of 3-Year-Old Filly, Moves for Golden Gate Fields Closure

March 12, 2024

Daily Californian

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PRESS

La Traición a los Beagle: Retirados los Cargos contra Tres Activistas por Rescatar a la Perrita Julie

March 9, 2024

El Diario

“Los perros se tenían que sentar sobre sus propias heces y orines, incapaces de escapar de sus residuos. Estaban tan desesperados que se golpeaban contra las paredes, estiraban las patas a través de los barrotes y mordisqueaban las jaulas”, relata Hsiung. “Sus gritos eran tan fuertes que nos veíamos obligados a gritar nosotros también para comunicarnos, incluso cuando sólo estábamos a un palmo de distancia unos de otros”.

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PRESS

La Traición a los Beagle: Retirados los Cargos contra Tres Activistas por Rescatar a la Perrita Julie

March 9, 2024

El Diario

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PRESS

In 'Stunning' Reversal, Wisconsin Throws Out Case Against Puppy Mill Rescuers

March 8, 2024

Common Dreams

The prosecution evidently, "prefers to let the defendants walk free than allow the world to see the dire conditions of dogs at Ridglan and the state trying to jail activists for a heroic act of compassion," said Chris Carraway, an attorney with the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project.

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PRESS

In 'Stunning' Reversal, Wisconsin Throws Out Case Against Puppy Mill Rescuers

March 8, 2024

Common Dreams

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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

Animal Rights News Recap 12/23/16

December 23, 2016

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BLOG

Four Times Social Movements Took Root in Berkeley

December 22, 2016

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BLOG

Animal Rights News Recap 12/16

December 16, 2016

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BLOG

On The Turkey Pardon

December 15, 2016

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BLOG

The Animal Rights Movement Comes of Age

December 12, 2016

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BLOG

Animal Rights News Recap 12/9/16

December 9, 2016

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BLOG

Animal Rights Activist Profile: Billy Hall

December 7, 2016

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BLOG

Can Meat Eating Be the Next Cigarette? Four Surprising Facts.

December 5, 2016

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BLOG

Animal Rights News Recap 12/2/16

December 2, 2016

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Our Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE

East Bay Residents Hold Memorial Demonstration for Horses Killed at Golden Gate Fields

December 11, 2021

26 horses have died at the facility this year

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Protest Petaluma Poultry Slaughterhouse with Giant Symbol and Banner for Rose’s Law

December 5, 2021

Protestors, including felony defendants, call for Rose’s Law: Animal Bill of Rights

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PRESS RELEASE

GUILTY: Jury Convicts Animal Rights Activist Who Livestreamed Goat Rescue

December 5, 2021

Supporters say rescue of sick baby goat was an act of compassion

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PRESS RELEASE

Thanksgiving Miracle: Utah Farmer Releases Turkeys to Whistleblowers Facing Felonies for Factory Farm Investigations

November 22, 2021

While Smithfield demands prison for Utah activists, this turkey farmer defends their actions, and is even helping them rescue more

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PRESS RELEASE

San Francisco Supervisors Call for Statewide Factory Farm Moratorium

November 16, 2021

“No More Factory Farms” campaign asks legislators to prohibit the construction of new factory farms and slaughterhouses

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PRESS RELEASE

SF In-N-Out Protested with Creepy 16-Foot “Squid Game” Doll, Dozens of Actors Simulating Murderous Game

October 29, 2021

“Red Light, Green Light” demonstration inspired by hit show dramatizes activists’ concerns about animal cruelty and supply chain transparency

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PRESS RELEASE

TYSON IS SCARY: UCB Students Protest University Sourcing from “Family” Factory Farms

October 27, 2021

UCB administrators claim the world’s largest chicken producer doesn’t use factory farming

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PRESS RELEASE

Case Dismissed Against Protester Who Sprayed Pig Feces at Smithfield CEO’s Home

October 13, 2021

Company has faced nuisance lawsuits for waste pollution sprayed on local communities, resulting in hundreds of millions in judgements against it

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PRESS RELEASE

BREAKING: 9 Activists Arrested After Locking Down, Dumping Wildfire Debris at Gov. Newsom’s House

September 28, 2021

11 peaceful activists from the same group are still in custody on over $1 million total bail, following California slaughterhouse blockade Tuesday

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