Breaking news and publications from Direct Action Everywhere.
Media inquiry? Please email press@dxe.io.
PRESS
May 12, 2026
Los Angeles Times
In late February, animal rights activists flew a drone over a calf ranch in the Central Valley and watched as workers kicked and punched the animals. Footage reviewed by The Times shows a worker pulling a calf by the nose with pliers.
PRESS
May 12, 2026
Los Angeles Times
PRESS
September 9, 2022
Independent Journal Review
“I want the world to know that animal rescuers are facing years in prison because of this company’s undue influence on our democracy.”
PRESS
September 9, 2022
Independent Journal Review
PRESS
September 9, 2022
Fox News
"Smithfield, like the animal agriculture industry itself, is a barbaric house of cards -- built on unconscionable, systemic abuse, and desperate attempts to shield that abuse from the public eye."
PRESS
September 9, 2022
Fox News
"Smithfield, like the animal agriculture industry itself, is a barbaric house of cards -- built on unconscionable, systemic abuse, and desperate attempts to shield that abuse from the public eye," Shokrai said in a news release. "I want the world to know that animal rescuers are facing years in prison because of this company’s undue influence on our democracy."
PRESS RELEASE
September 9, 2022
"This is really about inverting the truth: making peaceful activists look dangerous, when the real danger is Smithfield and other companies that systematically torture millions of innocent sentient beings while destroying our environment."
PRESS RELEASE
September 9, 2022
PRESS
September 9, 2022
USA Today
Direct Action Everywhere said the protesters on Thursday night were trying to highlight an upcoming Smithfield Foods factory farm trial.
PRESS
September 9, 2022
USA Today
PRESS
September 9, 2022
New York Post
The motive for the wild act was to bring justice for two other activists facing over a decade in prison for rescuing two sick baby piglets from a Smithfield Foods factory farm.
PRESS RELEASE
September 8, 2022
Emek Echo and Katia Shokrai ran across the field holding up red smoke flares and wearing shirts with “RIGHTTORESCUE.COM” text.
PRESS RELEASE
September 8, 2022
PRESS
September 5, 2022
Mercury News
"Seagulls poop. Pigeons poop. Crows poop and so do ducks -- but no one is talking about killing them, so why should we kill the geese?" Supervisor David Canepa said.
PRESS
September 5, 2022
Mercury News
PRESS
September 2, 2022
Salt Lake Tribune
Attorney General Sean Reyes could have prosecuted Smithfield for animal cruelty, not activists for disclosing the truth.
PRESS
September 2, 2022
Salt Lake Tribune
PRESS
August 29, 2022
Salt Lake Tribune
Recent rulings — and the June bombshell that Smithfield Foods, owner of Circle Four Farms, will shut down two-thirds of its operation in the county — have shaped how the trial will play out.
PRESS
August 29, 2022
Salt Lake Tribune
TOP PRESS
January 8, 2015
The New York Times
An animal rights group released on Thursday a disturbing video of laying hens at a farm in Northern California that supplies eggs to Whole Foods and Organic Valley, among other retailers and distributors.
BLOG
July 14, 2026
The prosecutorial viewpoint seems to be at odds with a growing public expectation that animals raised for food should not be left to suffer — and aggressive marketing (in this case, “humanewashing”) often deceives consumers into thinking they’re making the right purchasing choices.
BLOG
May 28, 2026
The elephant seals at Año Nuevo are dying because they share beaches with infected seabirds — infected because H5N1 has become endemic in wild bird populations worldwide, a spread driven in significant part by the concentration and global trade of farmed poultry.
BLOG
May 20, 2026
Deputies testified that they never investigated the animal cruelty allegations at the dairy or referred them to any agency, despite being told about dead and suffering animals on site. One officer even defended the facility by claiming that “you can go to any dairy, anywhere in the country, and there will be dead goats there.”
BLOG
April 22, 2026
Open rescue as a strategy is not just about getting a few animals out of their cages, it is also about creating a crisis that can no longer be ignored. It is about forcing the public and people in power to choose a side.
BLOG
March 19, 2026
The dairy industry trade group's CEO, Anja Raudabaugh, spread blatant lies about animal rights activists on a recent podcast discussing DxE's latest project, FactoryFarmWatch.org. This blog corrects the record and invites Ms. Raudabaugh to engage in an honest and transparent conversation.
BLOG
February 19, 2026
Factory Farm Watch is more than a map. It is a launchpad for statewide action to end factory farming.
BLOG
February 6, 2026
A summary of the first annual Animal Liberation Conference in India, co-hosted by DxE and Indore Animal Liberation
BLOG
January 4, 2026
I think the public has made it resoundingly clear that they feel Perdue should be prosecuted for its crimes. I hope you'll take that into consideration and use your power as a judge to do some good for these animals.
BLOG
December 18, 2025
No prosecution, conviction, or sentence, will ever stop a movement driven by compassion and care.
PRESS RELEASE
September 5, 2026
Protesters entered the store with signs reading “Someone Not Something” and “Stop Selling Animals,” as well as trash cans overflowing with plush parakeets, rubber snakes, and rubber mice to represent how Petco treats animals like trash, based on images from multiple recent investigations of breeders that sell to Petco.
PRESS RELEASE
August 25, 2026
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.
PRESS RELEASE
August 22, 2026
The protest featured a 10-foot-tall milk carton prop modeled after Meyenberg packaging, but with an image of the dead pile of goats documented at Meyenberg’s Vera Goat Dairy and with red streamers symbolizing the animals’ blood flowing out from the top of the carton.
PRESS RELEASE
August 11, 2026
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.
PRESS RELEASE
July 27, 2026
Factory farm investigators with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) used drones to document cruel handling of calves at 140 Cattle Co., a calf-raising operation linked to Hilmar Cheese Company, one of the largest cheese producers in the U.S.
PRESS RELEASE
July 18, 2026
Activists first protested silently next to the animals on display inside Petco in San Rafael, and then loudly outside the store, urging Petco to end the retail sale of animals at all locations.
PRESS RELEASE
June 30, 2026
Direct Action Everywhere Los Angeles campaigned to urge the grocery chain to cut ties with Meyenberg, after the group’s investigation at a Meyenberg dairy exposed emaciated, ill goats and an illegal dead pile
PRESS RELEASE
June 22, 2026
A DxE drone investigation released in May shows calves kicked in the face, yanked by their tails, and disbudded with hot irons at Agresti Calf Ranch in Stanislaus County. The facility is owned by the Agresti-Assali family which also owns the adjacent Clover Sonoma milk supplier Double D Dairies. DxE investigators witnessed calves from Double D Dairies being transported to Agresti Calf Ranch.
PRESS RELEASE
June 20, 2026
With Bay Area cities moving to ban the retail sale of animals, animal rights activists with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) are turning up the pressure on one of the Bay’s biggest pet retailers: Petco. Dozens of activists with DxE, PETA, and other groups protested inside and outside Petco in San Mateo Saturday afternoon.
