This Newspaper Wanted Me in Prison. Now It's Defending Animal Rights.

The San Francisco Chronicle wanted me in prison for rescuing dying piglets.

When I was charged with 4 felonies in 2018 for rescuing sick and injured piglets from Smithfield Foods, the paper amplified the company’s claim that the video of our open rescue was “staged in an attempt to manufacture an animal care issue where one does not exist.”

It was just the latest example of the Chronicle accusing animal advocates of exaggeration or even extortion, but I was still flabbergasted. We had clearly outed Smithfield for lying to the public about the usage of so-called gestation crates, 2’ x 7’ cages where mother pigs are forced to live their entire lives. And we had shot the entire rescue using cutting-edge 360 degree cameras, borrowed from a Bay Area virtual reality (VR) startup, to ensure we captured every scene in the farm as accurately as possible. Yet the Chronicle was repeating allegations that we were lying. So I wrote this to the Chronicle:

To stage a VR video would require us to either: (1) somehow create an entire factory farm for us to shoot in VR just for the purpose of tarnishing the company’s reputation; or (2) CGI a VR video, which we have neither the technical ability nor economic resources to do.

(You can watch the video yourself—ideally with a VR headset—and see if it seems staged to you.)

I didn’t ask the Chronicle for a retraction, though I thought we were entitled to one. I asked instead for the paper to link to the actual video and include a quote from us in response. Shockingly, the reporter, Tara Duggan, responded that she had not even watched our investigative video but thought Smithfield’s claim was fair because our posts on social media were “telling a story in a very specific way.” She refused to change her piece.

It felt like the Chronicle wanted me in prison—and would amplify corporate lies to help make that happen.

That’s why yesterday’s featured opinion piece in the Chronicle is so surprising.

Prof. Matthew Liebman and Prof. Justin Marceau, two of the leading animal law scholars in the nation, published a piece in the Chronicle defending my right to rescue animals from abuse in a separate open rescue at an egg farm in California. I was convicted in 2023 for rescuing 37 dying hens at a Sonoma County factory farm. (Some of these animals were literally starving and rotting to death, such as the hen below.)

A court of appeal recently vacated my felony conviction in that case, on the grounds that I was denied the right to present evidence that my intent was to save animals from abuse. But the court also concluded, as a matter of law, that commercial animal abuse is not an “emergency” that necessitates rescue, and therefore left standing one misdemeanor conviction for trespass. As Liebman and Marceau argue in their piece, that is absurd. The animals left to starve at a factory farm are clearly facing an emergency.

This argument is important on its legal merits. Animals across the nation face dire suffering. If rescuers are not even permitted to argue that this is the case, then our courts will effectively join the cover-up of corporate cruelty. Juries, like much of the public, will be deceived about the true conditions in intensive confinement facilities, including not just factory farms but breeding facilities and labs.

But the publication of Marceau and Liebman’s argument is also important because it shows a seismic shift in what’s even allowed in debate. The Chronicle has been one of the most anti-animal papers in the nation. Its support for Smithfield, when I was charged for rescuing piglets, was not an aberration. It also opposed ballot initiatives to protect animals in 2008 and 2018 that were overwhelmingly supported by both Democratic and Republican voters. Our institutions, including the media, are too often bought by corporate money to actually represent the views of the public at large.

That is changing due to popular pressure and independent media. Now, even major mainstream publications must feature opinions such as Marceau and Liebman’s. As I noted in a prior newsletter, The New York Times has published three opinion pieces about animal cruelty in just the last month! And animal rights content by mainstream media outlets, such as this short video by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about the Ridglan rescue, is going viral. (Over 30 million views!)

@journalsentinelMore than 50 activists broke into a beagle breeding facility outside Madison on March 15, taking 23 dogs to an undisclosed location. More than 20 people were arrested. Activists have been trying for years to shut down Ridglan Farms, which breeds beagles for research. To settle a state investigation last year, the farm agreed to surrender its license to sell dogs for research by July. The facility will remain open and can continue breeding dogs for its own internal research. A spokesperson for Ridglan Farms said it is relying on state and federal authorities to help them retrieve the dogs. Read more at the link in bio. 🎥: Footage provided by Wayne Hsiung and Curtis Vollmar #animalrights #beagles #dogs #wisconsin

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Audiences are demanding the truth, not corporate catchphrases. That means that, after years of ignoring our voices—even when we have been falsely accused and face decades in prison—the media is finally airing out the debate.

This is important. I’ve always said that, fundamentally, the problem of animal abuse is one of ignorance, not malice. When we actually have the debate, we win. But for decades, the media has suppressed that debate. Instead, it has published caricatures, attacks, and outright lies by those in power—and refused to even allow us a response.

Now things are changing. Dissenting perspectives are being amplified. And if that continues, as I expect it will, expect the debate to get louder and bigger. And when we finally have the discussions we need to have as a society about what happens to animals, I’m confident the world will change.

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Other stuff

• Our Zoom meeting on Sunday at 3 pm ET will show how you can be part of this seismic shift in media for animals. I can’t prove it. But I suspect that the attention around Ridglan is part of the reason the Chronicle decided to publish the piece by Liebman and Marceau. We can make this even bigger—and move the campaign to save dogs from labs into national prominence. But to do that, we need you equipped for that fight. RSVP here.

• Our right to a speedy trial has been denied. I’ll have more to say about this, but it is just the latest example of courts bending to power. The trial is likely being pushed back from September to January, but stay tuned for more.

• It’s my birthday today, and if you want to offer some support, become a subscriber to this blog! We’ll always keep all this content free. But there are some things I’d like to do with it that will take some investment, including relaunching the podcast. I’d be grateful for your support!