In 2017, Wayne Hsiung and a crew of animal rights activists from Direct Action Everywhere broke into a Utah pig farm run by Smithfield Foods, one of the largest pork distributors in the world. They were there to capture video of what they say were thousands of mistreated and abused animals kept in tiny metal cages barely bigger than their bodies. As they were leaving, they took two sick piglets out with them.
Prosecutors in Utah charged Wayne with burglary and theft. What came next was the court battle that he wanted all along. During his trial, Wayne made a truly bizarre argument that forced the jury, and all of us, to stare straight at our complicated, sometimes uncomfortable relationship with animals. This week on the show, we grapple with the impossible question at the center of it: What is the value of a piglet? 
Special thanks to Kim Nederveen Pieterse, Nathan Peereboom, Jo Eidman, Sam Kozloff, Rachel Gross, Alex Allaux, and Joan Schaffner. 
EPISODE CREDITS: 
 Reported by - Sindhu Gnanasambandan and Jae Minard
 Produced by - Sindhu Gnanasambandan
 with help from - Pat Walters
 with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom
 Fact-checking by - Diane A. Kelly
 and Edited by  - Alex Neason and Pat Walters
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Articles - 
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://journal.fi/gjal/article/view/148685" rel="noopener noreferrer">A Rabbit, is a rabbit, is a rabbit… Not under the Law</a> (<a href="https://zpr.io/ezUPRE36VZVk" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/ezUPRE36VZVk</a>) by Schaffner, J. E. in The Global Journal of Animal Law</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/science/animals-rights-piglets-smithfield.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Animal Rights Activists Are Acquitted in Smithfield Piglet Case</a> (<a href="https://zpr.io/ayaV9gDneNsw" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/ayaV9gDneNsw</a>) by Andrew Jacobs in The New York Times</li>
 <li><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/direct-action-everywhere-virtual-reality-exposing-factory-farms/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meet the Activists Risking Prison to Film VR in Factory Farms</a> (<a href="https://zpr.io/HEXdpf5Q7VAB" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/HEXdpf5Q7VAB</a>)  by Andy Greenberg in Wired</li>
</ul>
Audio - 
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/get-wired-podcast-5-wayne-hsiung-direct-action-everywhere/" rel="noopener noreferrer">VR Puts Viewers Inside the Grisly Reality of Factory Farms</a> (<a href="https://zpr.io/pMHq5RVkzUM3" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/pMHq5RVkzUM3</a>) a 2-part podcast by Wired</li>
</ul>
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