Judge Reduces All Felonies to Misdemeanors in Goat Rescue Case
For immediate release
Contact:
Cassie King, DxE, (510) 507-8075, cassie@directactioneverywhere.com
Lauren Gazzola, Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, (646) 3970 4081, press@aaldp.com
Judge Reduces All Felonies to Misdemeanors in Goat Rescue Case
Court Also Orders DA to Disclose Information About Alleged Conflict of Interest, Due to Prior Representation of Farm Owners
Key Video from the Investigation
(Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)
August 25, 2026, Hanford, CA – Today, a Kings County judge reduced all felonies to misdemeanors against four animal rights activists who rescued two sick baby goats from a “Certified Humane,” Whole Foods supplier in Stratford, Vera Goat Dairy. The ruling comes in response to a filing earlier this month detailing evidence of significant animal cruelty at the dairy. The judge also ordered that the District Attorney’s office disclose evidence of DA Sarah Hacker’s relationship with the owners of the dairy farm property involved in the prosecution against these animal rescuers. The discovery order comes after defense attorneys for the rescuers told the court about District Attorney Sarah Hacker’s prior representation of the farm property owners.
“Too often, labels like ‘Certified Humane’ and pictures of happy animals get slapped on packaging to hide the ugly reality of animal agriculture. As our filing laid out, even on supposedly humane farms, unlawful cruelty and widespread suffering is rampant. That fact is central to this case, and we appreciate the court’s thoughtful attention to it,” said Darius Fullmer, Assistant Staff Attorney at the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project.
Judge Jim Trevino had specifically requested that attorneys provide to the court a detailed account of the documented cruelty at Vera. The animal cruelty filing argued that the farm’s own purported monetary value of the rescued goats did not rise to the minimum required to charge felony grand theft ($950), and that both the felony grand theft and felony conspiracy charge should be reduced on this basis as well as because of the extensive and well-documented cruelty on the farm. Today, Judge Trevino agreed.
DA Hackler’s alleged conflict arises from her representation, while she was still in private practice, of the Martins, the dairy property owners, in a class action lawsuit brought by workers at the dairy. The case resulted in a $750,000 settlement. Hacker also received $3000 in campaign contributions from the dairy when she ran for District Attorney.
The rescue of the two goats followed a months-long investigation into Vera Goat Dairy by Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), which exposed a large, open-air dead pile of mother and baby goats, a mother goat with severely inflamed udders, “marked emaciation,” and necropsy testing of deceased baby goats that found coccidia parasites and “bacterial bronchopneumonia, most likely caused by Escherichia coli,” according to a UC Davis lab report. The two rescued goats were both gaunt and suffering from respiratory infections. Caregivers nursed them back to health, named them Phoebe and Celia, and placed them at a sanctuary where they will live out their lives.
DxE’s legal team reported the group’s findings to county, state, and federal agencies and the Regional Water Quality Control Board, requesting that authorities take action, but no enforcement action was 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.
“It’s a relief to not be facing felonies anymore, but the fact that these charges were ever filed against us for saving two sick goats says a lot about how broken our legal system is,” said defendant Sally Zito. “The Sheriff and District Attorney wanted to throw the book at us to silence future whistleblowers from speaking up about animal cruelty. I wish they’d put even a fraction of that effort into protecting baby goats who are dying from disease and starvation.”
The four defendants are animal cruelty investigators with DxE. Joseph Allman, Carla Cabral, Tajinder Uppal and Sally Zito are accused of rescuing the two goats 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 was initially charged with felony grand theft, felony conspiracy and misdemeanor trespass, and faced a maximum sentence of 6 and a half years in prison. After today’s reduction in charges, the defendants now each face up to one year in prison.
The defendants are represented by attorneys with the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project and Civil Liberties Defense Center, as well as local counsel.
Additionally, Judge Trevino indicated the defendants are eligible for judicial diversion and set a hearing for that purpose on September 23, 2026.
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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