On Week 3, Day 10 of the Zoe Rosenberg chicken rescue trial, the courtroom in Sonoma County, California remains gridlocked—still no full jury seated as the high-profile animal rescue case unfolds. Outside, the movement grows louder. From Northern California to Los Angeles, animal rights activists are staging banner drops, slaughterhouse vigils, and grocery store protests, demanding recognition for the “right to rescue” animals who are sick and suffering in factory farms.

In a powerful twist of fate, the very courthouse where Zoe now faces felony conspiracy and multiple misdemeanors for rescuing 4 chickens from a slaughter truck is the very same one where Wayne Hsiung, co-founder of Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), was convicted of similar charges in 2023 for orchestrating open rescues of other chickens and ducks trapped in industrialized animal agriculture. Despite serving jail time, Hsiung—an attorney himself—has not backed down. In fact, he’s taken his legal fight for animals to Wisconsin, where he led a groundbreaking campaign against a controversial beagle breeding facility supplying dogs for lab experimentation.

After personally entering the facility, videotaping the caged dogs and documenting what he described as appalling conditions—including crude surgeries, unsedated procedures, and chronic neglect—Hsiung worked with advocacy groups to file formal legal complaints. His persistence has now led to significant legal consequences for those responsible and pushed state regulators to act, marking a rare victory in the battle against systemic cruelty in animal experimentation.

A special prosecutor continues to investigate the breeding facility for criminal animal cruelty as members of the local Board of Supervisors have introduced a resolution urging the facility’s license be revoked and the dogs put into protective custody while investigations continue.

Also, a Wisconsin Veterinary Board just voted unanimously to suspend the license of the facility’s lead veterinarian for allegedly allowing non-veterinarians to do painful surgeries on dogs without pain relief, including dental extractions and gruesome “cherry eye” removal surgeries.

These courtroom clashes—spanning two states and multiple species—underscore a rising question: Should rescuing a suffering animal be a crime… or a moral duty.