Sunrise Farms and Reichardt Duck Farm

Sonoma County, California

Take Action

Call and email Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez and ask her to finally prosecute Sunrise Farms, Reichardt Duck Farm, and Petaluma Poultry for years of criminal animal cruelty.

Call: 707-565-2311

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For years, investigators with Direct Action Everywhere have been exposing violations of animal cruelty law at factory farms in Sonoma County, including Sunrise Farms, Reichardt Duck Farm, and Perdue's Petaluma Poultry. Instead of prosecuting these companies, the Sonoma County District Attorney has gone after the whistleblowers and animal rescuers. Over 100 people have been arrested on felony charges for taking nonviolent direct action to help suffering animals at factory farms in the county. These charges resulted in the five-year prosecution of a handful of activists and ultimately, the eight-week trial of one remaining defendant, Wayne Hsiung.
On November 2, 2023, after 6 days of jury deliberation, Wayne was convicted of three of the four charges in the #SonomaRescueTrial -- felony conspiracy and misdemeanor trespass at Sunrise Farms and misdemeanor trespass at Reichardt Duck Farm. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a second felony conspiracy charge, resulting in a “hung jury” mistrial on that charge. Wayne was cuffed and immediately taken into custody. On November 30th, Wayne was sentenced to 90 days in jail followed by 24 months of probation. Judge Laura Passaglia also ordered him to have NO CONTACT in any form with the other named “co-conspirators” in the case, a list including many of his closest friends and one of his co-defendants in a beagle rescue trial scheduled for March. Right after the sentencing hearing, three other DxE animal rescuers were arrested on felony warrants outside the courthouse. Learn more about this new case here. Wayne was released from jail on December 9th after serving almost half his sentence, as is typical in California. He is in the process of appealing.

Meet the Defendant

Wayne Hsiung

Wayne is an attorney and co-founder of The Simple Heart. He has been a community organizer for over 20 years.

The following people have also been arrested in Sonoma County for taking nonviolent direct action to expose animal cruelty:

Aidan Cook, Alex Santurio, Alexandra Paul, Alicia Santurio, Almira Tanner, Alyssa Landi, Amy Brown, Ana Mehl, Ariel Ryan, Balaji V., Brianna Baer, Camilla Hahn, Cassie King, Cheyanne Holliday, Chris Tarzan Hayward, Christina Brown, Christopher Bleichner, Conrad de Jesus, Corey Rowland, Daniela Habermehl, Dawn Michelle, Dean Wyrzykowski, Efrem Blitz, Emek Echo, Jake H., Jeyrama Robles, Jocelyn Cole, Jon Frohnmayer, Jorden Ruggles, Katt Cho, Kelly Landreth, Kevin Baker, Kristina Norris, Lance Wilson, Lauren Fluty, Lawrence Cuneaz, Leni Wasacz, Leslie Goldberg, Lewis Bernier, Linda Cridge, Lucy H., Madhu Anderson, Mandy Washburn, Marika Diaz, Marissa Garam, Mary McKee, Michael Goldberg, Michelle L., Monica Martella, Nena Salas, Nico Stubler, Nikki Symanovich, Noah Bristol, Ora Goldman, Paul Nguyen, Peter Lecki, Rachel Arima, Rev. Robert Yamada, Ronnie R., Sanjeev Deshpande, Sarah Hewson, Samantha Walsch, Sharon Claitor, Tonia Moore, Vanessa Marsot, Vero Z., Vicky Stewart, Virginia Fior

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