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Activists Who Saved Piglets from a Factory Farm Have Been Acquitted

October 10, 2022

Salon

"State and federal authorities have consistently shielded factory farms from transparency and accountability," said attorney Matthew Strugar. "In nearly two decades of legal work, this case is one of the most egregious I've seen, in terms of denying defendants' constitutional right to a rigorous defense."

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PRESS

Activists Who Saved Piglets from a Factory Farm Have Been Acquitted

October 10, 2022

Salon

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PRESS RELEASE

Smithfield Piglet Rescuers Acquitted in Landmark Animal Rights Case

October 9, 2022

Activists take on a multibillion-dollar industry -- and win.

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PRESS RELEASE

Smithfield Piglet Rescuers Acquitted in Landmark Animal Rights Case

October 9, 2022

Activists take on multi-billion dollar industry - and win

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TOP PRESS

Activists Acquitted in Trial for Taking Piglets from Smithfield Foods

October 8, 2022

The Intercept

“Whenever I think about the condition Lily was in and the desperation we felt when we saw her there, struggling and so small and so sick, a little baby in such a horrible, awful, brutal place,” Hsiung said in a video posted to Instagram, “we just wanted to get her out.” Animal rescue “is not the worst part of us as human beings. It’s the best of us.”

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TOP PRESS

Activists Acquitted in Trial for Taking Piglets from Smithfield Foods

October 8, 2022

The Intercept

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PRESS

Animal Rights Activists Found Not Guilty on All Charges after Two Piglets Were Taken from Circle Four Farms in Utah

October 8, 2022

Salt Lake Tribune

Hsiung urged the jury to “make a decision of conscience,” saying it could lead to companies being more compassionate and governments being more open to animal cruelty complaints.

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PRESS

Animal Rights Activists Found Not Guilty on All Charges after Two Piglets Were Taken from Circle Four Farms in Utah

October 8, 2022

Salt Lake Tribune

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TOP PRESS

Animal Rights Activists Are Acquitted in Smithfield Piglet Case

October 8, 2022

New York Times

Many animal welfare advocates viewed the trial as a display of corporate power, and a test of whether the meat industry can legally prevent the public from seeing the sometimes unsavory aspects of modern mass food production.

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TOP PRESS

Animal Rights Activists Are Acquitted in Smithfield Piglet Case

October 8, 2022

New York Times

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PRESS

Jury Deliberating Case of Animal Activists Charged with Taking Pigs from Utah Farm

October 7, 2022

KSL News

The video created by the company, which directly shows Hsiung taking the pigs and talking about why he took them, was not allowed to be shown at the trial.

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PRESS

Jury Deliberating Case of Animal Activists Charged with Taking Pigs from Utah Farm

October 7, 2022

KSL News

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PRESS

Defendant Highlighted in Rams-49ers Demonstration Swipes at Bobby Wagner over Protester Tackle

October 6, 2022

Fox News

"There are a lot of things that are more important than a sporting event, including the animal exploitation and environmental degradation perpetrated by Smithfield Foods."

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PRESS

Defendant Highlighted in Rams-49ers Demonstration Swipes at Bobby Wagner over Protester Tackle

October 6, 2022

Fox News

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PRESS

Animal Rights Whistleblowers Stand Trial as Supporters Rally Outside Utah Courthouse

October 5, 2022

Waging Nonviolence

More than 70 animal rights activists stood outside a courtroom in St. George, Utah, on Tuesday, holding up a giant image of Utah Attorney Gen. Sean Reyes. A word bubble hovered above his head saying, “I cover up animal cruelty.”

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PRESS

Animal Rights Whistleblowers Stand Trial as Supporters Rally Outside Utah Courthouse

October 5, 2022

Waging Nonviolence

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PRESS

"Elevate the Message:" Animal Rights Activists Protest in St. George ahead of Circle Four Farm Trial

October 4, 2022

St George News

As the judge overseeing the trial ruled footage and photos taken at the Circle Four Farm cannot be shown in court, protesters are showing them to everyone who passed by in order to “elevate the message as much as possible.”

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PRESS

"Elevate the Message:" Animal Rights Activists Protest in St. George ahead of Circle Four Farm Trial

October 4, 2022

St George News

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Our Top Press Hits

TOP PRESS

The Giant Loophole that Lets Big Dairy Keep Baby Cows in Solitary Confinement

March 5, 2026

Vox

DxE filmed Grimmius’s operations using drone cameras, documenting many of the grim realities ubiquitous in the mass production of animals for food: calves being handled roughly, hit, and pushed to the ground. But perhaps most remarkably, the footage offers a rare view of what is arguably the most overlooked form of extreme confinement of farmed animals in the US.

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TOP PRESS

California Activist Gets Jail Time for Taking Chickens from Perdue Farms Plant

December 4, 2025

The Associated Press

Zoe Rosenberg, 23, did not deny taking the animals from Petaluma Poultry but argued she wasn’t breaking the law because she was rescuing the birds from a cruel situation.

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TOP PRESS

UC Berkeley Animal Rights Activist to Serve Jail Time After ‘Chicken Rescue’ Conviction

December 3, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

“They’re denying that any of this suffering is happening,” she said. “We have been calling on the California Attorney General to take action, because the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office has made it abundantly clear that they do not care about these animals whatsoever.” Her supporters cheered and yelled out promises to not give up defending animals.

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TOP PRESS

She Said She Was Rescuing Chickens. A Jury Convicted Her of Conspiracy.

October 29, 2025

The New York Times

The four chickens she took with her — whom she named Poppy, Ivy, Aster and Azalea — are alive at a sanctuary for rescued farm animals, she said. “I will not apologize for taking sick, neglected animals to get medical care,” Ms. Rosenberg said in a statement. “When we see cruelty and violence, we can choose to ignore it or to intervene and try to make the world a better place.”

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TOP PRESS

UC Berkeley Animal Rights Activist Found Guilty in ‘Chicken Rescue’ Trial

October 29, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

But even if the appellate court doesn’t reverse Rosenberg’s conviction, she likely won’t regret having risked prison time to force a trial. Her trial, by some measures, was still a success. Several national publications — including The New York Times and the Associated Press — covered it, raising awareness of DxE’s goal to eradicate America’s factory-farming industry by 2040.

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TOP PRESS

California Woman on Trial for Taking Chickens from Perdue Farms' Plant Says She Was Rescuing Them

October 28, 2025

The Associated Press

A California animal rights activist on trial for taking four chickens from one of Perdue Farms’ major poultry plants said Tuesday that she was rescuing Poppy, Ivy, Aster, and Azalea from abuse while prosecutors say she broke the law.

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TOP PRESS

She Took Chickens from a Slaughterhouse. Was It a Rescue or a Crime?

October 24, 2025

The Guardian

I asked Rosenberg what outcome she was hoping for. “My ideal outcome is honestly just whatever is best for the animals,” she said. “An acquittal wouldn’t set an actual legal precedent, but it would set a social precedent, to some extent, and send an important message.”

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TOP PRESS

UC Berkeley Activist Testifies She Saved Sick Birds, Not Stole Them, in Chicken Rescue Trial

October 17, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

Before a jury in a Sonoma County courthouse, Rosenberg testified that she believed at the time that her actions, often called “open rescue,” were “lawfully justified” to prevent what she considered “criminal animal abuse” by Petaluma Poultry, a Sonoma-based operation owned by Perdue Farms, a major poultry supplier nationwide.

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TOP PRESS

Berkeley Grad’s Chicken ‘Rescue’ Trial Begins in Sonoma County with Question of Intent vs. Crime

October 6, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

Though Rosenberg is technically the one on trial, they plan to force a deep review of the often-unsavory practices occurring at meat-processing facilities across the country.

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DxE's Blog

BLOG

An Open Letter Responding to Western United Dairies' Disinformation

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.

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BLOG

Exposing Big Ag with Factory Farm Watch

February 19, 2026

Factory Farm Watch is more than a map. It is a launchpad for statewide action to end factory farming.

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BLOG

ALC India Was a Huge Success!

February 6, 2026

A summary of the first annual Animal Liberation Conference in India, co-hosted by DxE and Indore Animal Liberation

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BLOG

An Open Letter to My Judge

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. 

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BLOG

Zoe's Reflections on Animal Rising's Beagle Rescue Trial Verdict

December 18, 2025

No prosecution, conviction, or sentence, will ever stop a movement driven by compassion and care.

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BLOG

An Open Letter to Attorney General Rob Bonta

December 17, 2025

I write to you from this jail cell on behalf of the animals, to beg for your assistance and intervention. This cruelty and suffering has gone on far too long.

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BLOG

Zoe's Reflections from Jail on the Role of Repression

December 16, 2025

To some, my being here may look like losing. I don’t see it that way. I see it as a sign that we have come to be a real threat to companies like Perdue that make billions of dollars off the mistreatment of animals.

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BLOG

An Update from Zoe After Her First Days in Jail

December 15, 2025

Since my incarceration, lives have continued to be saved. On my first day in jail, two chickens were rescued from a slaughterhouse in Stockton, California. They've been named Josephine and Jasmine.

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BLOG

An Update from Zoe in Jail

December 11, 2025

My cell is small, but I can stand up and take a few steps. In many parts of the US, animals can legally be housed in such tight confinement that they can't even spread their limbs or turn around.

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Our Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE

Sebastopol City Council Passes Historic Resolution to Support Factory Farm Investigators Facing Prison Time in Sonoma County

May 3, 2023

Animal rights activists are calling this a win for the right to rescue animals from abuse.

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Activist Found Guilty for Leafleting about Factory Farms

April 25, 2023

A Beaver County Judge convicted Curtis Vollmar of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct for talking to members of the public about Smithfield Foods.

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PRESS RELEASE

UC Law Summit Explores Impact and Implications of Historic Animal Rights Trial

April 24, 2023

The “Right to Rescue” is a hot topic after a California jury acquitted two activists who removed sick birds from a Foster Farms slaughter truck. Jurors, defendants, attorneys, and law professors gathered to discuss the verdict's meaning for laws related to corporate animal abuse, animal rescue, and animal personhood.

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PRESS RELEASE

Chicken Rescuers Acquitted in Historic “Right to Rescue” Case

April 16, 2023

A California jury found two women “not guilty” for rescuing sick birds from a Foster Farms slaughter truck.

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PRESS RELEASE

Residents Protest Golden Gate Fields After Third Horse Death in 2023

March 4, 2023

“The racing industry gives horses ridiculous names like “Big Laugh” because the suffering of these animals is just a game to them,” said DxE organizer Kitty Jones. “We give them respectful names because we see them as individuals worthy of respect.”

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PRESS RELEASE

Protesters Call Out Chick-Fil-A for Claiming “Humane” Standards While Sourcing from Animal Abusing Foster Farms

February 25, 2023

Referencing Chick-Fil-A’s history of oppression toward marginalized groups, activists say the company’s disregard for animals is part of a pattern.

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PRESS RELEASE

Protestors Call on Merced DA to Prosecute Documented Cruelty at Foster Farms Livingston Slaughterhouse

February 15, 2023

Citing practices that cause prolonged, terrifying, and painful deaths at Foster Farms’ killing facility, activists call for corporate accountability.

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PRESS RELEASE

Protesters Call for Closure of Primate Research Center at UC Davis, Citing Inhumane Practices, Federal Violations, and Failures of Animal Studies to Produce Relevant Results

January 26, 2023

More than 5,000 monkeys are confined at the center for use in research and breeding. Abusive methods cited by activists include the practice of withholding food and water until monkeys in research studies are so dehydrated they will perform tasks in order to be rewarded with minuscule amounts of food or water.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Call on USDA to End Use of Gas Chambers, Delivering Undercover Footage of Pigs Being Gassed in Slaughterhouse

January 24, 2023

The footage shows pigs screaming, gasping, thrashing violently, and trying to escape as they descend into the pit of CO2 gas.

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