While we have certainly continued to see protests and other disruptive activity by animal rights extremists — despite restrictions on travel and gatherings due to the pandemic — we have yet to see any in-person extremist conferences over the past 18 months. Unfortunately, that is about to change this week as Direct Action Everywhere is set to host its Animal Liberation Conference in Oakland, Calif., starting on Friday.

You might be wondering why we should care about animal rights extremists gathering for a conference. Unfortunately, DXE’s conferences are not known solely for speakers making outlandish claims about animal agriculture. The hallmark of its gatherings are large-scale “open rescues” and mass protests in which hundreds of conference attendees descend upon unsuspecting farms to protest for hours and steal livestock or poultry.

In 2018, the Animal Liberation Conference culminated in the first “mass open rescue,” with 500 activists (according to DXE) targeting an egg producer in Sonoma County. More than 40 activists were arrested for trespassing after they entered barns and stole more than 30 birds. In 2019, several hundred conference attendees descended upon a duck farm (also in Sonoma County), ending with 80 arrests. In that instance, a small group of activists entered the farm’s processing facility and chained themselves to plant equipment, including a conveyor belt that ended up somehow being switched back on.

All farms, plants and other facilities related to animal agriculture in California, particularly within a few hours of the Oakland area, need to be especially vigilant over the next 10 days. While previous mass protests have targeted farms, DXE’s efforts over the past year have been aimed more at meat companies and plants, making them likely targets for a protest. Be on the lookout for anything suspicious — for example, emails or phone calls seeking information, unexpected visitors, or any indication that someone has been on the property (doors or gates left open, items left behind). Reach out to local law enforcement to let them know there is potential for issues and get any recommendations they may have along with who you should call if anything does arise. If your company has been targeted by DXE previously, you should take special caution and consider bringing on additional security for this time.

If the Alliance team can assist you in any preparations, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’ll be closely following the conference for any information we can get about what they may plan to do. I hope these efforts end up being unneeded, but that outcome is unfortunately unlikely.

Californians beware — DXE activists to gather

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