Defense Submits Animal Cruelty Evidence in Goat Rescue Case
For immediate release
Contact: Cassie King, DxE, (510) 507-8075, cassie@directactioneverywhere.com
Defense Submits Animal Cruelty Evidence in Goat Rescue Case
Defense attorneys for 4 animal rescuers charged with felonies request reduction of charges
Key Video from the Investigation
(Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)
August 11, 2026, Hanford, CA – Today, defense attorneys for four goat rescuers charged in Kings County filed evidence with the court of animal cruelty at the Whole Foods-supplying goat dairy at the heart of the case. They have submitted a motion requesting that Judge Jim Trevino reduce the felony charges to misdemeanors. At the preliminary hearing in May, Judge Trevino chose not to reduce the charges, but specifically requested that the animal cruelty evidence be provided to the court.
The four defendants are animal cruelty investigators with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE). Joseph Allman, Carla Cabral, Tajinder Uppal and Sally Zito are accused of rescuing two sick baby goats from Vera Goat Dairy in Stratford in May of 2025. Vera is a 9,000-goat operation that supplies the nation's largest goat milk producer, Meyenberg Goat Milk, which is sold at Whole Foods and other stores nationwide. Each defendant is charged with felony grand theft, felony conspiracy and misdemeanor trespass, and faces a maximum sentence of 6 and a half years in prison. They are represented by attorneys with the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project and Civil Liberties Defense Center, as well as local counsel.
The rescue followed a months-long investigation into Vera Goat Dairy by DxE, which exposed a large, open-air dead pile of mother and baby goats, including emaciated and diseased goat kids. The two rescued goats, who are now named Phoebe and Celia, were both emaciated and suffering from respiratory infections.
“You cannot separate what my client did from why she did it,” said Darius Fullmer, Assistant Staff Attorney at the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project. “This was an act of rescue necessitated by the documented animal neglect that is now before the court.”
Today’s filing details the conditions DxE documented at Vera Goat Dairy prior to the rescue, including ongoing dead piles on the property, a mother goat with severely inflamed udders, and and necropsy testing of deceased baby goats that found coccidia parasites, "bacterial bronchopneumonia, most likely caused by Escherichia coli," and "marked emaciation."
The filing also notes that an attorney with DxE's legal team reported the group’s findings at Vera Goat Dairy to county and state agencies and the Regional Water Quality Control Board, but no enforcement actions were taken against the company.
DxE activists assert that they have a legal right to rescue animals from unlawful abuse when the authorities fail to enforce the law. Renowned attorneys agree.
“I’m grateful the judge is reviewing the evidence of sick and dying animals at Vera Goat Dairy,” said defendant Tajinder Uppal. “What we’ve wanted all along is for the authorities to take this cruelty seriously and stop it. These goats deserve to be seen and heard. However our case ends, I hope it helps the goats suffering for Whole Foods’ profits.”
The next hearing in the case is on August 25, 2026. Judge Trevino will hear arguments on several motions including the motion to reduce the felony charges to misdemeanors.
The Animal Activist Legal Defense Project at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law works to empower and defend animal advocates through activist defense, affirmative litigation, and training law students to join and transform the field of Animal Law. Learn more at AALDP.com and follow us at @AALDP_DU on Twitter/X, Instagram, and @AALDP-DU on Bluesky.
Investigators with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) enter farms, slaughterhouses, and other facilities to document abuses and rescue sick and injured animals. DxE’s investigatory work has been featured in The New York Times, WIRED, and Vox. DxE activists have been subjected to FBI raids and felony prosecutions for their investigative work. In 2022, DxE activists won the first-ever acquittal in an open rescue case. Visit DxE on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and at directactioneverywhere.com.
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