Breaking news and publications from Direct Action Everywhere.
Media inquiry? Please email press@dxe.io.
TOP PRESS
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.
TOP PRESS
October 9, 2024
The Intercept
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.
March 21, 2023
Fresno Bee
TOP PRESS
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.”
TOP PRESS
March 20, 2023
LA Times
PRESS
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.
PRESS
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.
PRESS
March 19, 2023
Petaluma Argus Courier
PRESS
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.”
PRESS
March 18, 2023
Davis Vanguard
PRESS
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.
PRESS
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.
PRESS
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.”
PRESS
March 17, 2023
Fresno Bee
PRESS
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.
PRESS
March 10, 2023
Plant Based News
TOP PRESS
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.
TOP PRESS
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.
TOP PRESS
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.
TOP PRESS
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.”
TOP PRESS
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.
TOP PRESS
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.
TOP PRESS
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.
TOP PRESS
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.
TOP PRESS
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.
BLOG
June 29, 2020
Workers forced to kill thousands of pigs with extreme heat and steam
BLOG
June 11, 2020
Investigators say “ventilation shutdown” is criminal livestock neglect as pigs are “roasted alive”
BLOG
June 9, 2020
Bay Area residents face criminal charges after rescuing dying animals from Sonoma County factory farms
BLOG
May 12, 2020
An Unfiltered Q&A With A Publication That’s Planning An “Exposé” Of DxE
BLOG
May 8, 2020
How money and drugs corrupted the story of a pig farmer who was prosecuted for saving his pigs.
BLOG
April 18, 2020
Protesters of Smithfield slaughterhouses and vendors say it undermines the well-being of employees, animals, whistleblowers and the public
BLOG
March 29, 2020
BLOG
March 24, 2020
PRESS RELEASE
December 11, 2021
26 horses have died at the facility this year
PRESS RELEASE
December 5, 2021
Protestors, including felony defendants, call for Rose’s Law: Animal Bill of Rights
PRESS RELEASE
December 5, 2021
Supporters say rescue of sick baby goat was an act of compassion
PRESS RELEASE
November 22, 2021
While Smithfield demands prison for Utah activists, this turkey farmer defends their actions, and is even helping them rescue more
PRESS RELEASE
November 16, 2021
“No More Factory Farms” campaign asks legislators to prohibit the construction of new factory farms and slaughterhouses
PRESS RELEASE
October 29, 2021
“Red Light, Green Light” demonstration inspired by hit show dramatizes activists’ concerns about animal cruelty and supply chain transparency
PRESS RELEASE
October 27, 2021
UCB administrators claim the world’s largest chicken producer doesn’t use factory farming
PRESS RELEASE
October 13, 2021
Company has faced nuisance lawsuits for waste pollution sprayed on local communities, resulting in hundreds of millions in judgements against it
PRESS RELEASE
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
