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PRESS RELEASE

Massive Barn Fire Kills Tens of Thousands of Chickens at Demler Brothers Egg Ranch

July 19, 2024

The Ramona factory farm was the site of a 2019 animal cruelty investigation by Direct Action Everywhere

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PRESS RELEASE

Massive Barn Fire Kills Tens of Thousands of Chickens at Demler Brothers Egg Ranch

July 19, 2024

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PRESS

Animal Law Podcast #109: The Case That Didn’t Happen

June 26, 2024

Our Hen House

Three activists affiliated with Direct Action Everywhere, Wayne Hsiung, Paul Picklesimer, and Eva Hamer, were charged with felonies resulting from the rescue of several beagles from Ridglan Farms, a notorious facility that breeds dogs for use in research. Suddenly, right before trial, the charges were dropped, and none of us ever heard the full story. So, now, Chris and Steffen are here to tell us not only about what really happened, but how they and their clients are working to turn the tables and, using a particularly interesting Wisconsin statute, bring criminal charges against Ridglan itself for animal abuse.

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PRESS

Animal Law Podcast #109: The Case That Didn’t Happen

June 26, 2024

Our Hen House

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PRESS

Food Network Star Confronted by Activists at Napa Book Signing

June 26, 2024

KTVU Fox Bay Area

"If Tyler Florence had seen what I've seen in Petaluma Poultry factory farms and its slaughterhouse, he would agree this criminal animal abuse is unacceptable," Rosenberg said in a statement Monday. Perdue Farms did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

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PRESS

Food Network Star Confronted by Activists at Napa Book Signing

June 26, 2024

KTVU Fox Bay Area

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PRESS

Protesters Disrupt Tyler Florence Visit to Inaugural Napa Cookbook Fest

June 24, 2024

Napa Valley Register

DxE has disrupted Florence at nearly a dozen events across the U.S., where activists have held signs that read: ‘Stop Supporting Petaluma Poultry's Criminal Animal Abuse.’ DxE claims that Petaluma Poultry, a poultry producer for which Florence is a brand ambassador, has violated animal cruelty laws at several of its locations in Northern California. Activists allege that many of the birds processed by Petaluma Poultry are injured, have been left to starve, and are carrying infectious diseases that are hazardous to public health.

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PRESS

Protesters Disrupt Tyler Florence Visit to Inaugural Napa Cookbook Fest

June 24, 2024

Napa Valley Register

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PRESS

Animal Rights Comes to ‘America’s Provence’ and Farmers Are Worried

June 9, 2024

Politico

“These industrial facilities harm animals,” said Cassie King, a member of Direct Action Everywhere. “They exacerbate wildfires and droughts. They are incubators for disease, like the avian flu that was mentioned, which has spread to mammals and humans. They pollute our air and water. They most impact the health of workers and people who live nearby these facilities.”

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PRESS

Animal Rights Comes to ‘America’s Provence’ and Farmers Are Worried

June 9, 2024

Politico

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PRESS

Last Horse Race at Golden Gate Fields Brings Mixed Reactions from Fans, Animal Advocates

June 9, 2024

ABC Bay Area

Outside, animal rights activists held a funeral precession for the horses they say have been euthanized here. "It's bittersweet. We're happy this is a step forward for the animals that will no longer be exploited and killed here," said Kitty Jones from Direct Action Everywhere.

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PRESS

Last Horse Race at Golden Gate Fields Brings Mixed Reactions from Fans, Animal Advocates

June 9, 2024

ABC Bay Area

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PRESS

Historic Berkeley Racetrack Holds Final Event. Animal Welfare Groups Pleased to See It Go

June 8, 2024

East Bay Times

Horse racing may never return to Berkeley if voters this November approve a measure banning factory farms. Facilities can earn that designation from federal regulators if they house especially large populations of livestock — in this case, the threshold is 500 horses.

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PRESS

Historic Berkeley Racetrack Holds Final Event. Animal Welfare Groups Pleased to See It Go

June 8, 2024

East Bay Times

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PRESS

4 Felony Counts Dropped against UC Berkeley Student for Animal Removal, Charges Remain

May 14, 2024

Daily Californian

“In an effort to deflect their own responsibility and failure to protect animals (the prosecution is) really trying to make an example out of people like Ms. Rosenberg,” defense attorney Chris Carraway said. “As a result, they are throwing as many charges as they want in order to scare people from blowing the whistle.”

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PRESS

4 Felony Counts Dropped against UC Berkeley Student for Animal Removal, Charges Remain

May 14, 2024

Daily Californian

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PRESS RELEASE

Judge Dismisses Multiple Felonies Against Animal Rescuer

May 13, 2024

Berkeley student in Perdue poultry case now faces 1 felony and 3 misdemeanors

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PRESS RELEASE

Judge Dismisses Multiple Felonies Against Animal Rescuer

May 13, 2024

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Our Top Press Hits

TOP PRESS

A California Town Will Vote on Banning Factory Farms. What Does That Mean for the Rest of the US?

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.

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TOP PRESS

You’re More Likely to Go to Prison for Exposing Animal Cruelty Than for Committing It

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.

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TOP PRESS

This Is the Ops Manual for the Most Tech-Savvy Animal Liberation Group in the US

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.

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TOP PRESS

Animal Rights Activist Convicted of Felony for Rescuing Sick Chickens

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.

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TOP PRESS

Activists Call It Rescue. Farms Call It Stealing. What Is ‘Open Rescue’?

August 7, 2023

National Geographic

These crusaders are part of the so-called “open rescue” movement, in which animal rights activists brazenly take animals from factory farm operations. Direct Action Everywhere—better known as DxE—is at the forefront of this movement in the United States...

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TOP PRESS

Dangerous Pathogens and Cruelty Law Violations at Perdue Subsidiary, Animal Rights Report Alleges

June 13, 2023

The Intercept

In conjunction with the release of an undercover investigation on the factory farm, the group DxE mounted an “open rescue” of birds from a slaughterhouse.

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TOP PRESS

Opinion: Utah Undermined the Jury System to Shield Big Ag from Scrutiny

March 30, 2023

Salt Lake Tribune

If government agencies were taking these [investigative] reports seriously and protecting animals from cruelty, there would be no need for bills like this. But certain Utah legislators have decided that the real problem with sick, suffering animals is the potential for negative publicity for the industry and so it is the industry, not the animals, that need protection.

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TOP PRESS

The Fight Against Factory Farming Is Winning Criminal Trials

March 21, 2023

Vox

DxE’s theory — that when you show a jury of ordinary citizens what happens to animals in the meat industry, they’ll agree that they deserve rescue — turned out to be true, challenging the idea that the animal rights agenda is radical or unpopular.

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TOP PRESS

Former TV Star, Now a Chicken ‘Rescuer,’ Found Not Guilty of Foster Farms Theft

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.”

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DxE's Blog

BLOG

Perdue Rescue Trial Court Watch - Week 7: Oct 27th-31st, 2025

October 27, 2025

Updates and summaries from Week 7 of the Perdue Rescue Trial

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BLOG

Perdue Rescue Trial Court Watch - Week 6: Oct 20th-24th, 2025

October 20, 2025

Updates and summaries from Week 6 of the Perdue Rescue Trial

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BLOG

Perdue Rescue Trial Court Watch - Week 5: Oct 13th-17th, 2025

October 13, 2025

Updates and summaries from Week 5 of the Perdue Rescue Trial

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BLOG

Perdue Rescue Trial Court Watch - Week 4: Oct 6th-10th, 2025

October 6, 2025

Updates and summaries from Week 4 of the Perdue Rescue Trial

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BLOG

Perdue Rescue Trial Court Watch - Week 3: Sept 29th-Oct 3rd, 2025

September 29, 2025

Updates and summaries from Week 3 of the Perdue Rescue Trial

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BLOG

Perdue Rescue Trial Court Watch - Week 2: Sept 22nd-27th, 2025

September 22, 2025

Updates and summaries from Week 2 of the Perdue Rescue Trial

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BLOG

Perdue Rescue Trial Court Watch - Week 1: Sept 15th-19th, 2025

September 15, 2025

Updates and summaries from Week 1 of the Perdue Rescue Trial

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BLOG

Perdue Rescue Trial Court Watch - Pre-Trial Updates

September 12, 2025

The Perdue Rescue Trial begins on Monday, September 15th at the Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa, California.

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BLOG

Trader Joe’s Is Suing Me to Keep You in the Dark

July 31, 2025

Trader Joe’s is known as “America’s most reputable brand,” and I’m learning firsthand that this might be because they relentlessly silence their critics and go to great lengths to protect their image from public scrutiny.

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Our Press Releases

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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PRESS RELEASE

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

March 15, 2025

The protest spotlighted the zoonotic pathogens found at Petaluma Poultry, including salmonella, campylobacter, antibiotic-resistant Enterococcus, and Clostridium perfringens. Two protestors wore the type of biosecurity suits that are required for investigations and held yellow caution tape in front of the store’s meat section, which contains chickens slaughtered at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rescuer Arraigned on Felony, Misdemeanor Charges

March 3, 2025

“If Ms. Rosenberg had rescued a drowning dog from a neighbor’s pool, she would be applauded, not prosecuted,” said Mr. Carraway. “The fact is, California law does not distinguish between rescuing a dog from a pool and rescuing sick and injured chickens from a slaughterhouse. Those who profit off animal agriculture may not like it, but that is the law.”

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Disrupt Berkeley Trader Joe's Over Sale of “Criminally Abused” Chickens from Perdue Farms

March 1, 2025

Outside the store, protestors set up a “human meat” display with an activist covered in fake blood and lying on a tray wrapped in plastic to represent the abused chickens whose plastic-wrapped bodies are sold at Trader Joe’s.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Protest at Elon Musk's Neuralink, Call for End to Animal Experiments

February 15, 2025

Protestors displayed a giant Elon Musk head with a speech bubble reading “I TORTURE MONKEYS.” With some activists dressed as monkeys inside cages, others held signs reading “Primates are not prototypes.” Several Bay Area residents, including a former animal experimenter, gave speeches condemning the cruelty and ineffectiveness of animal testing.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Disrupt Dinner Service at Playa Mill Valley Over Ties to Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry

February 2, 2025

On Saturday evening, animal rights activists disrupted the dinner service at the upscale restaurant Playa Mill Valley in Marin County, asking the restaurant to cut ties with Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry due to documented animal cruelty.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Protest at Home of Perdue Slaughterhouse Director

January 29, 2025

Jason Arnold, Director of Operations for Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse, ignored activists’ requests for a meeting regarding documented criminal animal cruelty at the slaughterhouse

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Activists Create Giant “Death for Dinner” Display Outside Oakland Safeway

December 14, 2024

Activists covered in fake blood lay down on a giant “plate” to bring attention to the violence behind serving dead animals as food during the holidays. Protestors also called on Safeway to cut ties with Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry, where undercover investigations have exposed sick and injured animals left without care.

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PRESS RELEASE

Berkeley Becomes First U.S. City to Ban Factory Farms

November 12, 2024

A coalition of groups, including the Berkeley-based animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) and Compassionate Bay, led the effort to gather the signatures to get this CAFO ban on the ballot.

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