Animal Activist Found Guilty in Landmark Open Rescue Case
Wayne Hsiung has been convicted of felony conspiracy and trespassing for exposing animal cruelty at two factory farms. He is now facing up to three years in jail.
Photo: Direct Action Everywhere
Animal rights activist and attorney Wayne Hsiung was found guilty of one felony conspiracy and two misdemeanor trespassing chargers on Thursday for rescuing sick animals from factory farms in Sonoma County, California.
Following the verdict, Hsiung was immediately taken into custody without bail where he is expected to remain until his sentencing on November 30.
“I could be going to jail for organizing others and trying to take sick and injured animals to the vet,” Hsiung said in a video posted on social media the day before his conviction. “That’s all I did.”
Right to Rescue
Hsiung is the co-founder of the organization Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), a liberation group that engages in nonviolent action to promote animal rights. DxE is leading the campaign to legalize the ‘right to rescue’, sick and injured animals from factory farms and animal experimentation facilities, also known as ‘open rescue’. Most cases of open rescues often lead to legal consequences, which amplify the cases in the media.
In a statement released after his conviction, via The Simple Heart, Hsiung wrote: “What we have done to these gentle creatures on this earth is, in both scale and severity, the greatest source of terror and suffering in the history of our species. And I do not regret or apologize for my efforts — our efforts — to combat this grave injustice.”
Hsiung was acquitted last year of felony burglary and theft related to the rescue of two sick piglets, Lily and Lizzie, from a Smithfield-owned facility in Utah. He also represented defendants in a successful trial earlier this year for the open rescue of two chickens from a transport truck headed to a slaughterhouse.
Wayne Hsiung (front) removing piglets from a farm in Utah, 2017. Photo: Direct Action Everywhere
Hsiung's current charges are the results of DxE open rescues at Sunrise Farms in 2018 and Reichardt Duck Farm in 2019 in Sonoma County. Previous whistleblower footage from Sunrise Farms exposed distressing conditions at the facility including deceased and decaying corpses, birds suffering from sores on their reproductive organs, bloody eggs, and a bird trapped in the wires of her cage.
Hundreds of activists took part in the DxE open rescue of 70 chickens and ducks from these farms. A total of three defendants were charged by Sonoma county prosecutors, but Hsiung is the only one remaining. One defendant was dismissed and another took a plea deal.
DxE activist at Reichardt Duck Farm. Photo: Direct Action Everywhere
Jury deliberations took six days and found Hsiung guilty on three of the four charges: felony conspiracy and misdemeanor trespass at Sunrise Farms and misdemeanor trespass at Reichardt Duck Farm. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the felony conspiracy charge from the Reichardt action, resulting in a “hung jury” mistrial on that charge.
Michael Weber, co-owner of Sunrise Farms, testified that there were no sick or injured animals on the farm and compared the likelihood of finding a sick or injured chicken at the facility to finding a polar bear there. However, challenging Weber's assertion, Hsiung presented a video taken eleven days before the rescue, showing a hen with an eye tumor that struggled to walk or access food. This tumor resulted from pecking caused by overcrowding at the facility.
Weber also described the chickens' environment as stress-free and humane. However, during cross-examination, he admitted that the birds regularly cannibalise each other due to stress and disease.
‘Immense Gratitude’
In the statement published via The Simple Heart, Hsiung also thanked everyone involved in the case, including the court, the prosecutor, the jury, and the farm owners: “I have believed for the last 20 years that it is crucial for us to discuss the issues we discussed in a court of law,” he wrote. “And you gave me, and the animals I represent, a chance to do that. I have immense gratitude for that.”
Wayne Hsiung at Reichardt Duck Farm, 2019. Photo: Direct Action Everywhere
According to a statement released by DxE, Hsiung “plans to appeal the conviction in Sonoma based on several rulings by Judge Laura Passaglia that constitute prejudicial and reversible error, including the exclusion of almost all photo and video evidence showing animal cruelty at the factory farms where the rescues occurred.”
Almira Tanner, DxE lead organizer and former defendant called the verdict “a critical step on the journey to strengthen legal rights for animals.”
Learn more about how you can support the right to rescue here.
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