UPDATE: Rosenberg was released from police custody Sunday morning. She faces charges of trespass and disorderly conduct.
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Contact: Matt Johnson, (319) 464-5985, matt@directactioneverywhere.com
BREAKING: “Glue Girl” Group Again Disrupts NBA Game as Woman Chains Herself to Hoop
Footage from Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor’s factory farm reveals chickens fully conscious after being “roasted alive” en masse
APRIL 16, MEMPHIS, TN - Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) -- the grassroots animal rights network behind both an investigation exposing animal cruelty at a factory egg farm owned by Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, as well Tuesday night’s protest during the Timberwolves play-in victory -- again disrupted play with a mid-game protest.
The protester, DxE organizer Zoe Rosenberg, chained herself to the base of the hoop during the Timberwolves game one Western Conference Quarterfinal matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies. Rosenberg was removed after a brief delay and taken into custody. It’s unknown whether she will face charges.
DxE says its investigation exposes the reality behind a recent mass killing of 5.3 million chickens following an outbreak of “highly pathogenic avian influenza” (HPAI). The video shows birds on-site which survived “ventilation shutdown plus” (VSD+), a mass killing method whereby ventilation openings in the industrial sheds full of birds are closed, and some combination of heat, steam and/or carbon dioxide gas are introduced, eventually killing the animals via suffocation. Dozens of surviving birds were found still in their cages, running loose in the sheds, even buried alive.
The mass killing happened at Rembrandt Enterprises, an Iowa factory egg farm owned by billionaire Glen Taylor, who also owns the Minnesota Timberwolves. Neither Rembrandt nor the Timberwolves have responded to queries nor made any public statement about the investigation. Rembrandt has, however, laid off over 200 employees in the weeks after the mass killing.
Saying the NBA is no place for abusive factory farmers, DxE is asking that the sale of the team -- set to transfer majority ownership to baseball hall-of-famer Alex Rodriquez and businessman Marc Lore in 2023 -- be expedited, with Taylor immediately stepping down from day-to-day operations. The group is also requesting that Taylor -- Minnesota’s wealthiest person -- donate the $11.3 million in federal subsidies he received in relation to a separate HPAI outbreak in 2015 to public health charities and animal sanctuaries.
A complaint supported by expert veterinary and legal opinions was submitted to local and state authorities Monday, alleging that Rembrandt’s conduct, recorded between March 20-22, violates state law. VSD+ has also been widely criticized as inhumane by animal welfare organizations.
Disease outbreaks such as HPAI, as well as deadly diseases in humans, are an inevitable result of intensive confinement of animals, says Dr. Mike Martin, a professor in University of California San Francisco’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. "We are risking our health when we cram chickens together in commercial poultry facilities like Rembrandt. As we’re seeing, close confinement promotes the spread of viral diseases among the animal population, which increases the risk of a mutation that allows a deadly virus to spread to humans. It has happened before, and it is almost certain to happen again, given the omnipresence of commercial animal agricultural facilities."
Yet despite the animal welfare and public health issues, this business model is not just permitted but actively funded by the federal government. Taylor received $11.3 million in USDA subsidies when this same site had an HPAI outbreak in 2015, and is set to receive millions more for this one (as authorized by The Animal Health Protection Act, and reiterated by USDA public releases in January and in March).
DxE says the situation is a particularly striking instance of a familiar US political theme -- those at the top invest in speculative, destructive business models, empowered with the knowledge that they can privatize gains and socialize much of the inevitable losses.
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Investigators with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) enter farms, slaughterhouses, and other agricultural facilities to document abuses, and to rescue sick and injured animals. DxE’s investigatory work has been featured in The New York Times, ABC Nightline, and a brutal mass pig killing exposé. DxE activists have been subjected to FBI raids and felony prosecutions for their investigative work. The group led the 2019 grassroots effort to ban fur products in California and the 2021 effort to transition Berkeley city purchases to 100% plant based foods. Visit DxE on Facebook, Twitter and at directactioneverywhere.com.
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