Direct Action Everywhere (DxE)

Investigation & direct actionFounded 2013 · Berkeley, California

Overview

Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is an animal rights network that uses undercover investigation, open rescue, and civil disobedience to challenge industrial animal agriculture and animal testing. Founded in 2013 in the San Francisco Bay Area, DxE operates on a model of radical transparency — conducting “open rescues” where investigators remove animals from facilities, publicly document the rescue, and face criminal prosecution to create legal test cases.

DxE's approach is controversial even within the animal rights movement. By deliberately accepting criminal charges, they aim to put the conditions inside facilities on trial — using courtrooms as platforms for public disclosure. This strategy has produced both acquittals (where juries found investigators acted reasonably given documented conditions) and convictions.

Beagle-Specific Work

Key Finding

DxE's most significant beagle-related action was the 2017 undercover investigation at Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin — which ultimately led to 311 state violations and the facility's USDA license surrender.

Ridglan Farms Investigation (2017)

Undercover investigators documented systematic abuses at Ridglan Farms including devocalization (vocal cord removal) performed on 30-40 dogs per month without anesthesia — using the paralytic agent succinylcholine instead. Also documented cherry eye surgery by non-veterinarians, improper euthanasia, and other welfare failures. This footage became the central evidence in state enforcement proceedings.

Full Ridglan facility profile →

Open Rescue Operations

DxE has conducted open rescues of beagles from breeding and testing facilities. In these operations, investigators enter facilities, document conditions, and remove individual animals — then publicly identify themselves and the rescued animals, accepting legal consequences.

Legal Defense as Advocacy

Criminal trials resulting from DxE actions have served as platforms for introducing facility conditions into public record. The courtroom strategy — presenting evidence of animal suffering as justification for rescue — has produced mixed legal outcomes but consistent media attention.

Broader Scope

Beagle work represents a significant but not majority portion of DxE's operations. The organization primarily targets factory farming (poultry, pigs, cattle) with investigations at facilities across the US. Their beagle-related work is distinctive because it produced one of the most consequential enforcement outcomes in the animal testing space — the Ridglan license surrender.

Key people: Wayne Hsiung (co-founder), other investigators (names in investigation records)

Legal status: Multiple ongoing and completed criminal cases related to open rescues