FBI Raided Animal Sanctuaries In Search Of Piglets ‘Rescued’ In Viral Factory Farm Video
Earlier this summer, animal activist group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) filmed undercover footage at a factory farm belonging to pork producer Smithfield. While on site, they discovered two piglets described as “ill” and “near death” by The Intercept, which the activists then “rescued” by taking them away from the site and nursing them back to health at an animal sanctuary. DxE member Wayne Hsuing later defended his actions by describing the states of the two pigs:
“One was swollen and barely able to stand; the other had been trampled and was covered in blood.”
Direct Action Everywhere had originally come to the farm to reveal that Smithfield’s pork producers were engaging in gestational crating, a practice that confined pigs to tight spaces and leads to injuries. Canada and the European Union have already banned the practice.
A month after the New York Times posted a piece and video that featured the rescue of these animals, the FBI raided animal sanctuaries in search of “Lucy and Ethel,” the names undercover activists gave to the piglets. (In public videos, they were referred to as Lily and Lizzie). While The Intercept claims that neither of the two targeted locations had ties to DxE, the FBI had search warrants to take DNA samples from pigs that matched their description at the sanctuaries. A state veterinarian that came with the FBI cut off up to two inches of a pig’s ear at one point for DNA, traumatizing the agents to the point where they ordered the procedure not to be performed again.
These and further acts of “intimidation” reported on by The Intercept appear to accuse the FBI of scaring animal shelters out of “taking care of rescued animals.” In a statement given to the Washington Post, the FBI simply states that they conducted “court-authorized activity related to an ongoing investigation,” declining to comment or provide more details.
Smithfield told the Intercept that they launched an internal third-party audit following DxE’s videos and reporting and found “no findings of animal mistreatment” at their facilities, declining to elaborate as to what that meant. The Intercept argues that Smithfield’s definition of “animal mistreatment” does not include gestational crating.
It’s clear that the FBI likely did raid the animal sanctuaries in response to DxE’s videos of the Smithfield pig farm. However, whether any further actions will be taken, either by DxE against the raids or by the FBI in defense of them, is unclear at this time.
