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PRESS

Opinion: I’m Facing 20 Years in Prison for Rescuing Animals

December 20, 2023

TruthDig

For the 1,000-plus lives I’ve saved, I’ve mostly received praise from the general public and from public officials. As a result of my rescue work, I was invited to deliver a TED talk when I was 15. But in Sonoma County, I’m being called a terrorist for saving criminally abused chickens and ducks from suffering and painful death. What are we supposed to do, as concerned members of the public, when law enforcement fails to help animals in need of aid?

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PRESS

Opinion: I’m Facing 20 Years in Prison for Rescuing Animals

December 20, 2023

TruthDig

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PRESS

Letter to Editor: Factory Farm Risks

December 20, 2023

Press Democrat

Blaming those who expose flaws is a disservice to public health. Let’s redirect focus toward transparency and advocating for humane and health-conscious farming practices.

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PRESS

Letter to Editor: Factory Farm Risks

December 20, 2023

Press Democrat

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PRESS

What Would It Mean to Treat Animals Fairly?

December 16, 2023

New Yorker

The enduring challenge for any activist is both to dream of almost-unimaginable justice and to make the case to nonbelievers that your dreams are practical. The problem is particularly acute in animal-rights activism.

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PRESS

What Would It Mean to Treat Animals Fairly?

December 16, 2023

New Yorker

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PRESS

Letter to Editor: Unsustainable Agriculture

December 15, 2023

Press Democrat

All animals are thinking sentient beings and deserve a natural life. Animal agriculture pollutes land and water. It is a significant contributor to climate change. And it's really bad for the hapless slaughtered animals.

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PRESS

Letter to Editor: Unsustainable Agriculture

December 15, 2023

Press Democrat

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PRESS

Animal Rights Activist Wayne Hsiung Faces Jail Time for Nonviolent Animal Rescues

December 13, 2023

One Green Planet

The sentencing also includes a prohibition on any form of contact with his co-conspirators, a list that includes close friends and co-defendants in an upcoming trial related to a beagle rescue.

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PRESS

Animal Rights Activist Wayne Hsiung Faces Jail Time for Nonviolent Animal Rescues

December 13, 2023

One Green Planet

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PRESS

"Right to Rescue" Could Be Advanced by California Felony Conviction

December 8, 2023

Food Safety News

[Hsiung's] law license is not necessarily at risk, and his conviction and sentence appeal are an opportunity to argue that people can enter the property and remove exploited or distressed animals.

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PRESS

"Right to Rescue" Could Be Advanced by California Felony Conviction

December 8, 2023

Food Safety News

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PRESS

3 More DxE Animal Rights Activists Arrested in Sonoma County, California

December 4, 2023

Unchained TV

[Arrestee Zoe] Rosenberg has since publicly declared, “I want the world to know that I am not afraid, because nothing the legal system can do to me, including depriving me of a (medical) device I rely on to survive, will ever compare to the atrocities that take place every day…” in the animal factories she investigates.

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PRESS

3 More DxE Animal Rights Activists Arrested in Sonoma County, California

December 4, 2023

Unchained TV

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BLOG

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

December 2, 2023

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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.

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PRESS

Chinese Lawyer Convicted of Trespassing on Farm to Save Animals Was Sentenced by Judge

December 1, 2023

KTSF26

The defendant's father, Xiong Hansheng, said: "I think it's unfair, he didn't commit a crime, he just wanted to protect animals, so I'm a little disappointed, but I also feel that I hope Wayne's behavior can make many animals more protected."

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PRESS

Chinese Lawyer Convicted of Trespassing on Farm to Save Animals Was Sentenced by Judge

December 1, 2023

KTSF26

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Our Top Press Hits

TOP PRESS

Animal rights activists opposed to ‘factory farms’ protest outside Gavin Newsom’s home

September 29, 2021

The Sacramento Bee

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TOP PRESS

Chickens Severely Mistreated At “Humane” California Slaughterhouse, New Video Alleges

September 29, 2021

The Intercept

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TOP PRESS

Berkeley to serve vegan meals at jails, public buildings

July 29, 2021

The Hill

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TOP PRESS

Industry foe charged under Iowa's new food trespassing law

April 8, 2021

ABC News

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TOP PRESS

After Pork Giant Was Exposed for Cruel Killings, the FBI Pursued Its Critics

February 17, 2021

The Intercept

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TOP PRESS

Charges dropped against activist who exposed Iowa hog deaths

January 29, 2021

ABC News

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TOP PRESS

Activist posing as Smithfield CEO hoaxes Fox’s Maria Bartiromo

December 23, 2020

The Washington Post

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TOP PRESS

The Next Pandemic Could Come From an American Factory Farm

December 11, 2020

VICE News

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TOP PRESS

New Documents Reveal How the Animal Agriculture Industry Surveils and Punishes Critics

October 10, 2020

The Intercept

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DxE's Blog

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.

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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? 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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BLOG

Cedar the Goat Shines a Light on the Dark Reality of 4-H and FFA

May 1, 2023

I have seen firsthand the trauma these programs inflict on children and the violence they inflict on animals. It’s time we reform 4-H and FFA to no longer include programs where kids raise animals to die.

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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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BLOG

Smithfield Trial Juror Speaks Up against New Anti-Rescue Bill in Utah

February 1, 2023

Utah legislators with ties to the Farm Bureau released House Bill 114, “Theft Defense Amendments,” in direct response to the outcome of the Smithfield Trial.

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BLOG

2023 Is Going to Be B.A.D.A.S.S.

January 28, 2023

In the first-ever Bay Area Direct Action Skill Share (B.A.D.A.S.S.), starting March 25, a cross-movement cohort of 100 activists will unite in Oakland for 5 days of intensive direct action training.

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Our Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE

Judge Refuses to Gag Animal Rescuer

June 4, 2025

Describing the requested gag order as “overbroad and vague by any constitutional standard,” Judge Gnoss noted that Ms. Rosenberg’s critics, too, had participated in public discussion about her case, pointing by way of example to a statement by Bill Mattos, President of the California Poultry Federation, describing Ms. Rosenberg’s rescue of four chickens as a “terrorist act.”

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PRESS RELEASE

Five Activists Arrested after Rescuing Sick Baby Goats, Confronting Authorities at Whole Foods-Supplying Goat Dairy Recently Exposed for Violations Including a Massive Dead Pile

May 27, 2025

Tuesday's rescue follows a months-long investigation into Vera Goat Dairy by DxE earlier this year, which found that dozens of dead mother and baby goats are regularly dumped into an illegal dead pile on the property, indicating that the operation is experiencing high rates of mortality.

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PRESS RELEASE

Hundreds March in Petaluma in Support of Animal Liberation

May 24, 2025

Approximately 200 activists with the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) marched through downtown Petaluma Saturday afternoon in support of animal liberation and the right to rescue animals from abuse. They began at Penry Park and weaved through downtown including past diners at restaurants along the riverfront. Along the way, they chanted, delivered speeches, and handed out educational information to the public about Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse.

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Activists Protest at District Attorney’s House, Disrupt Parade; Week of Action Against Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry is Underway

May 19, 2025

Over the weekend, animal rights activists with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) held protests across Sonoma County to elevate animal cruelty at Petaluma Poultry, a subsidiary of national poultry giant Perdue Foods. On Sunday, they delivered their message to Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez with a protest outside her home in Windsor, urging her to finally prosecute Petaluma Poultry for documented criminal animal cruelty.

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Group Files Anti-SLAPP Motion to Dismiss Perdue Lawsuit Against Free Speech

May 13, 2025

Free speech experts say that Perdue’s lawsuit is a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP suit, intended to silence activists, burden them with legal fees, and intimidate them from protesting. California's anti-SLAPP statute was passed to enable defendants to quickly dismiss meritless lawsuits targeting protected activities.

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Activists Disrupt Trader Joe's in Berkeley, Oakland, SF, Part of Nationwide Weekend of Action

May 4, 2025

Direct Action Everywhere activists protest dozens of Trader Joe’s stores across the country asking the retailer to cut ties with Perdue’s California subsidiary, Petaluma Poultry, given documented animal abuse

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Disrupt Oakland Trader Joe's Over Sale of Chickens from Perdue Farms

March 29, 2025

“I want to know why Trader Joe’s is continuing to support Perdue’s animal cruelty and endangering consumers,” said Conrad de Jesus, an Oakland resident who participated in the protest. “They’ve seen the evidence of sick and injured animals languishing without medical care at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry. It’s time they cut ties with this awful company.”

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PRESS RELEASE

Dozens Protest at Home of Perdue Slaughterhouse Director

March 22, 2025

A handful of counter-protesters showed up with a Trump flag and a cardboard sign reading “Eat chicken.” They heckled the speakers and disrupted photos by standing in front of the photographers.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Protest at Trader Joe's Headquarters Over Animal Cruelty

March 20, 2025

“I’m appalled that Trader Joe’s would continue to knowingly sell abused animals,” said Sally Zito of Los Angeles, who joined today’s protest in Monrovia. “I have delivered letters and I’ve called corporate headquarters and asked to talk to Trader Joe’s buyers, and they denied this request. They are putting their profits over the lives of animals.”

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