Rescuing Lily and Lizzie from Smithfield
Utah
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The #SmithfieldTrial ended with a full acquittal for Paul and Wayne. Help us share this historic victory for the right to rescue by retweeting or making your own post today.
In 2017, DxE investigators infiltrated a massive pig farm in the Utah desert, a facility owned by Smithfield/WH Group, the world’s largest pig killing company. This one Smithfield farm is 20 miles long with over 300 barns on site. The investigators filmed the conditions inside in 360 degree virtual reality footage. Their footage, titled "Operation Deathstar," documented row after row of mother pigs crammed inside gestation crates barely bigger than their bodies and piles of dead piglets covered in their mothers' feces.
The investigators rescued 2 sick piglets, Lily, who had a severe leg injury, and Lizzie, who was malnourished and nursing on a shredded nipple. They took Lily and Lizzie to a sanctuary to receive care. Then, they published the whole investigation and rescue online and in the New York Times to show the world the nightmarish cruelty happening inside Smithfield’s farms. The story went viral when the FBI started hunting for the piglets, raiding sanctuaries and even cutting off part of a pig’s ear to do DNA testing.
DxE investigators Wayne Hsiung and Paul Darwin Picklesimer went to trial October 3-7, 2022 in Washington County, Utah. On Saturday, October 8, after a full day of deliberations, the jury of 8 people unanimously found Wayne and Paul NOT GUILTY on all charges for rescuing Lily and Lizzie from Smithfield. This is a groundbreaking verdict and a major win for the right to rescue animals from abuse.
Meet the Defendants
Paul Darwin Picklesimer
When Paul was a roofer in West Virginia, they worked on farms and saw animal abuse up close. Those experiences helped lead them to becoming an animal rights activist.
Wayne Hsiung
Wayne is an attorney and co-founder of the animal rights network, Direct Action Everywhere. He has been a community organizer for over 20 years.