Farmer John

Vernon, California

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Seven activists were arrested while attempting to rescue a pig they named Greta from inside Farmer John slaughterhouse in Los Angeles. Farmer John is Smithfield’s largest West Coast slaughterhouse where more than 7,000 pigs are killed every day. It was also the site of a massive COVID outbreak in 2020 where 1 in 2 workers at the facility were infected. A few days after the attempted rescue, around 200 people united at the slaughterhouse to protest Smithfield’s abuse of animals and workers. Dozens more people were arrested during a lockdown at the facility. Most had no charges filed against them. The police filed felony charges against the seven people who tried to save Greta, but the District Attorney has chosen not to pursue the case and the statute of limitations has expired.

Meet the Defendants

Alexandra Paul

Alexandra is a longtime actress who lives in Los Angeles with her human partner of 25 years and their two felines. With other DxE activists, she has rescued pigs, chickens and calves from factory farms and has been arrested 5 times at DxE actions peacefully advocating for animals.

Alicia Santurio

Alicia is a factory farm investigator and experienced animal caretaker who lives in the Bay Area. She and her parents have been taking action with DxE since 2015.

Emek Echo

Emek is an audio engineer who finished school as valedictorian. She became an animal rights activist after learning about the suffering animals go through in animal exploiting industries.

Lewis Bernier

Lewis is an outdoorsman and bodybuilder who works to investigate cruelty in animal agriculture. Since moving to the Bay Area, they have exposed horrific conditions inside dozens of farms and slaughterhouses across the United States.

Rachel Hosler

Rachel is a mother, sanctuary volunteer, artist, and yoga teacher, on top of which she has operated a mobile dog grooming business for 16 years.

Robert Franklin

Reverend Robert Ryugen Doshin Yamada is the resident Soto Zen Buddhist monk at Dobutsu Kaihoji, the Animal Liberation Temple, and an activist for our dear animal friends.

Zoe Rosenberg

Zoe is a UC Berkeley student, TEDx speaker, activist, and animal rescuer. She is the founder of Happy Hen Animal Sanctuary, a nonprofit organization that has saved over 1,000 animals from factory farms and slaughterhouses, and she leads the social media team for Direct Action Everywhere.