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The Turkey Pardon Is a Perfect Emblem of Our Very Dumb Politics

November 22, 2023

The New Republic

Virtually all turkeys raised in the United States come from crowded concentrated feeding operations—CAFOs, or factory farms. Investigations by animal rights groups like Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, have shown that the same farms that provide the well-groomed, handsome birds for White House events raise the rest of their animals in hellish conditions.

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PRESS

The Turkey Pardon Is a Perfect Emblem of Our Very Dumb Politics

November 22, 2023

The New Republic

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PRESS

Hero for Rescuing a Dog, But Facing Prison for Rescuing Birds

November 22, 2023

Common Dreams

I hate seeing Wayne go through this. I’m tired of the legal maneuverings by those with power to maintain a world that hurts the most vulnerable.

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PRESS

Hero for Rescuing a Dog, But Facing Prison for Rescuing Birds

November 22, 2023

Common Dreams

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PRESS

An Animal Activist Was Found Guilty After Rescuing Farmed Animals – Here’s Why He Did It

November 16, 2023

Plant-Based News

“Open rescue is one of the most powerful tools that we have to challenge animal cruelty," [said animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg]. “When you look into a factory farm and you see thousands of animals suffering, it’s so easy to desensitize yourself and get lost in the numbers and the immeasurable suffering. But when you identify an individual and connect with them, it’s life changing. Every single one of those animals in those facilities is an individual.”

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PRESS

An Animal Activist Was Found Guilty After Rescuing Farmed Animals – Here’s Why He Did It

November 16, 2023

Plant-Based News

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PRESS

Animal Rights Defender Wayne Hsiung Convicted of Felony for Rescuing Factory Farm Animals

November 13, 2023

Democracy Now!

“If you or I tortured an individual dog, we would clearly be subject to the criminal laws of the state of California. Yet, when a factory farm does this on massive scale, on a scale a million times larger than an individual person abusing a single animal, it’s seen as industry standard, and therefore completely immune from prosecution.”

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PRESS

Animal Rights Defender Wayne Hsiung Convicted of Felony for Rescuing Factory Farm Animals

November 13, 2023

Democracy Now!

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PRESS

Commentary: Farm Bureau Tries to Stifle Citizen-Led Initiative

November 10, 2023

Petaluma Argus Courier

We can work together to start the transition away from these destructive factory farms and use our collective power to build a better world.

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PRESS

Commentary: Farm Bureau Tries to Stifle Citizen-Led Initiative

November 10, 2023

Petaluma Argus Courier

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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

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

November 9, 2023

Vox

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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

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

November 8, 2023

Wired

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PRESS

Factory Farms in Berkeley? Not If Voters Pass This Ballot Measure in 2024

November 6, 2023

Berkeleyside

The proposed ordinance states, “CAFOs are a leading cause of environmental destruction, pose grave risks to public health, abuse and kill nonhuman animals, and often create dangerous and exploitative conditions for workers.”

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PRESS

Factory Farms in Berkeley? Not If Voters Pass This Ballot Measure in 2024

November 6, 2023

Berkeleyside

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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

Animal Rights Activist Convicted of Felony for Rescuing Sick Chickens

November 4, 2023

The Intercept

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Our Top Press Hits

TOP PRESS

Standing Trial: Should we care about animal liberation?

September 19, 2022

Harper's Magazine

Most readers care about humans, not pigs. What gets us going is a compelling main character facing many years in prison, not several million pigs spending a lifetime in circumstances that make prison look comparatively relaxing.

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TOP PRESS

Protests Are Wrong Until They’re Right

April 28, 2022

New York Magazine

Protests are often unpopular, but as this article shows, in the end, they tend to be right.

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TOP PRESS

Amid Bird Flu Outbreak, Meat Producers Seek “Ventilation Shutdown” for Mass Chicken Killing

April 14, 2022

The Intercept

DxE documented video footage of the depopulation at Rembrandt Enterprises, demonstrating the brutal reality of VSD and the true toll of our broken "food" system.

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TOP PRESS

My first job was slitting the throats of chickens at a slaughterhouse. It changed me forever

March 22, 2022

San Francisco Chronicle

Compelling testimony by a former slaughterhouse worker who is now a member of DxE's core organizing team.

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TOP PRESS

Why the Anti-Factory Farming Movement Needs Direct Action

March 14, 2022

Current Affairs

DxE activists are showing that anyone can, if they give themselves permission, start creating the world they want to live in.

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TOP PRESS

Animal Rights Activists Rescued Two Piglets From Slaughter. They Wanted to Get Caught.

February 23, 2022

The New Republic

DxE investigators are pressing for a trial they hope will go down as a pivotal moment in the history of the animal rights movement.

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TOP PRESS

Prosecutors Silence Evidence of Cruel Factory Farm Practices in Animal Rights Cases

January 30, 2022

The Intercept

The government wants to keep juries from seeing gruesome evidence of animals in distress, demonstrating yet again the massive power corporations wield in our current system.

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TOP PRESS

An animal rights activist was in court on criminal charges. Why was the case suddenly dismissed?

January 23, 2022

The Guardian

DxE's investigation of ventilation shutdown is probably the most important investigation in more than a decade, said Justin Marceau, an animal law scholar and professor at the University of Denver.

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TOP PRESS

Compassion Is Not a Crime: Animal Rights Activist Avoids Jail After Conviction for Baby Goat Rescue

December 8, 2021

Democracy Now!

In conversation with host Amy Goodman, DxE investigator Wayne Hsiung asks “Are the living creatures of this Earth property, or are they living creatures that deserve some form of dignity and respect?”

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DxE's Blog

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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BLOG

My Impending Incarceration and the Urgency of Animal Rescue

December 10, 2025

My prosecutors are hoping my jail sentence will scare you. They’re hoping you’ll consider rescuing an animal and then think of me and change your mind. No. Think of me if you will, but then do it.

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BLOG

Animal Rescuer Zoe Rosenberg Read This Powerful Statement at Her Sentencing Hearing

December 4, 2025

This is the statement defendant Zoe Rosenberg read in court at her sentencing hearing on Dec. 3, 2025, before she was sentenced to 90 days in jail for rescuing Poppy, Aster, Ivy, and Azalea from Perdue's Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse.

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BLOG

Perdue Rescue Trial Court Watch - Week 7: Oct 27th-29th 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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Our Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE

VIDEO: Activists March Demanding the Release of Animal Rescuer from Jail

December 13, 2025

Zoe Rosenberg is jailed in Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility after being sentenced last week to 90 days in jail for rescuing four suffering chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse

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PRESS RELEASE

VIDEO: Activists Protest Trader Joe’s Over Supplier Tied to Jailing of Animal Rescuer Zoe Rosenberg

December 6, 2025

Demonstrators urged the grocery chain to cut ties with Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry, with placards showing recent conditions of Petaluma Poultry operations

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rescuer Zoe Rosenberg Sentenced to 90 Days in Custody for Saving Chickens Worth $24

December 3, 2025

Today, animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg was sentenced to 90 days in custody for saving four chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse. She will become eligible for jail alternatives for the final 60 days of her sentence.

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PRESS RELEASE

Joaquin Phoenix Condemns Prosecution of Animal Rescuer in Sonoma County, Calls for Prosecution of Animal Cruelty

November 24, 2025

Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix is urging the Sonoma County District Attorney to prosecute animal cruelty at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse, after her office has ignored repeated reports of documented animal cruelty at the company’s factory farms and slaughterhouse.

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PRESS RELEASE

Activists Hold Vigil Outside Trader Joe's-Supplying Slaughterhouse in the Wake of Chicken Rescuer Conviction

November 8, 2025

DxE is calling for Petaluma Poultry to be prosecuted for scalding birds alive, citing that California’s animal cruelty law prohibits inflicting unnecessary cruelty on an animal.

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Advocates Urge Attorney General Bonta to Prosecute Petaluma Poultry for Criminal Animal Abuse

November 5, 2025

Zoe Rosenberg spoke at the AG’s Office on Wednesday, saying, “Sonoma County’s District Attorney’s Office is not doing anything to address the criminal animal cruelty. Instead, they spent the last two years prosecuting me.”

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PRESS RELEASE

Activist Convicted of Felony for Rescuing Chickens from Perdue Slaughterhouse

October 29, 2025

At trial, the court severely limited what the jury was able to know about these prior findings at Petaluma Poultry, despite the fact that they heavily influenced Ms. Rosenberg’s belief that rescue was necessary.

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Activists March in Petaluma During Felony Animal Rescue Trial

September 20, 2025

"I believe Zoe did the right thing by taking sick animals to the vet," said Sharon Loren of Penngrove, who joined the march. "Compassion should never be a crime, but it's on trial here in Sonoma County."

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PRESS RELEASE

Felony Animal Rescue Trial Begins

September 15, 2025

Zoe Rosenberg, 23, is charged with felony conspiracy and 3 misdemeanors for rescuing chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse

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