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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.

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PRESS RELEASE

Chicken Rescuers Acquitted in Historic “Right to Rescue” Case

April 16, 2023

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PRESS

Animal Rights Advocates Protest Racehorse Death at Golden Gate Fields

April 15, 2023

CBS News Bay Area

The protest is "in tribute to the unconsenting athletes whose extreme stress, horrific injuries, and frequent deaths are, according to activists, downplayed by the profit-driven racing industry," said Cassie King, a member of the animal rights group.

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PRESS

Animal Rights Advocates Protest Racehorse Death at Golden Gate Fields

April 15, 2023

CBS News Bay Area

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PRESS

Πειραιάς: Διαμαρτυρία ακτιβιστών για τη σφαγή αμνοεριφίων το Πάσχα [Piraeus: Activists Protest against Easter Slaughter of Lambs]

April 14, 2023

Pontos News

Οι ακτιβιστές εισέβαλαν σε μεγάλο σουπερμάρκετ στον Πειραιά, έχυσαν κόκκινη μπογιά στις βιτρίνες του κρεοπωλείου, και αφού φώναξαν συνθήματα, πραγματοποίησαν καθιστή διαμαρτυρία, εμποδίζοντας την «πώληση νεκρών ζώων». [The activists stormed a large supermarket in Piraeus, poured red paint on the butcher's shop windows, and after shouting slogans, staged a seated protest, preventing the "sale of dead animals".]

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PRESS

Πειραιάς: Διαμαρτυρία ακτιβιστών για τη σφαγή αμνοεριφίων το Πάσχα [Piraeus: Activists Protest against Easter Slaughter of Lambs]

April 14, 2023

Pontos News

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PRESS

Toronto Store Is Getting Slammed by Protesters and It Isn't Even Open Yet

March 30, 2023

Blog TO

Several animal rights activists took issue with the storefront's graphics that were displayed through the window, which depicted pigs and an octopus.... Protestors were seen holding signs that read, "it's not food it's violence," while others were pictured painting the words "animals are not products" on newspapers taped onto the storefront.

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PRESS

Toronto Store Is Getting Slammed by Protesters and It Isn't Even Open Yet

March 30, 2023

Blog TO

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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

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

March 30, 2023

Salt Lake Tribune

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PRESS

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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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

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

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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