Piglet Thieves Acquittal Leaves Smithfield Disappointed
Two animal-rights activists were acquitted this week of felony burglary and theft charges, five years after breaking into one of Smithfield Foods’ factory farms in Utah. After taking damning video footage of the farm’s horrendous conditions the pair departed with two piglets.
The acquittals came as something of a surprise, since local and federal law enforcement had invested many man-hours to catch the outlaw animal lovers. The FBI raided animal sanctuaries in Utah and Colorado, even slicing off part of one piglet’s ear to extract DNA and confirm she was Smithfield’s property. (She was, but the feds let her remain at the sanctuary, where she lives to this day).
Although the feds declined to press charges, Utah prosecutors wanted the two to pay, with up-to-five-years prison time. The trial looked stacked against the defendants, Wayne Hsiung and Paul Picklesimer, members of the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere. Defense was not allowed to state their reasons for trespassing, and the district court judge would not allow testimony about animal welfare or let the jury view the defendants’ video of the facility's horrible conditions. (Yes, really!)
“Against the advice of my co-counsel and pretty much all the attorneys I’ve talked to, I’m going to tell you exactly what we did on the night in question because I believe in the people of this country and the people of Utah to make the right choice,” said Hsiung, an attorney who represented himself, in his opening statement to the jury. Animal rescue “is not the worst part of us as human beings. It’s the best of us.”
That direct approach seemed to pay off, as the jury found the men not guilty of all charges. Smithfield’s vice president of corporate affairs Jim Monroe shared his disappointment in a statement: “This verdict is very disappointing as it may encourage anyone opposed to raising animals for food to vandalize farms.”
Hsiung agrees, sort of. “This is a resounding message about accountability and transparency,” he told reporters following the trial. “Every company that is mistreating its animals and expecting that government and local elected officials will just go along with them because they have them in their pockets will now realize that the public will hold them accountable, even in places like Southern Utah.”
The rescued pigs, Lizzie and Lily, are all grown up and living large at the Luvin Arms Sanctuary in Colorado (luvinarms.org). You can watch the video of the break-in at righttorescue.com.
Photo credit: Luvin Farms
