Animal Rights Activists Arrested for Rescuing Two Baby Goats

(update: 05/29/2025) - The five animal rescuers who were arrested yesterday after rescuing two sick baby goats from a dairy operation in Kings County, CA were released without charges last night. They were given certificates of release that state there is "insufficient grounds for criminal complaint" pending further investigation. Charges may be filed in the future.

5 activists arrested after rescuing sick baby goats, confronting authorities at whole foods-supplying goat dairy, recently exposed for violations including a massive dead pile

This is a developing story. Live updates in this document

Contact: Cassie King, 510.507.8075, cassie@directactioneverywhere.com

Dozens of activists are now gathered at Vera Goat Dairy in CA's Central Valley urging the authorities to investigate the facility and shut down the goat graveyard



DxE activists rescue two sick baby goats from Vera Goat Dairy in Stratford, CA on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)



A pile of dead mother and baby goats at Vera Goat Dairy in Stratford, CA. (Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)

Key Video of the Rescue

Key Video from the Investigation

Full Press Kit

May 27, 2025, Stratford, CA - On Tuesday afternoon, investigators with the grassroots animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) rescued two sick baby goats from Vera Goat Dairy in Stratford, California, a 9,000-goat operation that supplies the nation's largest goat milk producer, Meyenberg Dairy. The two rescued goats had ocular and nasal discharge, likely indicating respiratory infections. Meyenberg milk is marketed as "Certified Humane" and sold at Whole Foods, Walmart, and other nationwide grocery chains. DxE says the label is a marketing scam and that Vera Goat Dairy violates several "Certified Humane" requirements.

Tuesday's rescue follows a months-long investigation into Vera Goat Dairy by DxE earlier this year, which found that dozens of dead mother and baby goats are regularly dumped into an illegal dead pile on the property, indicating that the operation is experiencing high rates of mortality. Vera Goat Dairy, formerly named Milk Flow Dairy, was cited by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) in 2021 for improperly disposing of deceased animals, and DxE's investigation shows they continue to violate the same law at risk to the environment and public health. Investigators documented a dead pile on site today.

Other key findings of DxE's investigation include:

Mothers with inflamed, swollen udders, making it difficult for their babies to nurse; this can cause failure of passive transfer of antibodies to the babies, which makes them susceptible to disease

Necropsy testing of two deceased goats investigators collected from the dead pile found coccidia parasites, "bacterial bronchopneumonia, most likely caused by Escherichia coli," and "marked emaciation" "with no fat reserves and severe muscle atrophy"

Cattle were documented grazing on a recently covered dead pile and dogs on the property were documented eating the bodies in the dead pile, putting these animals at risk of contracting or spreading disease from the deceased goats

A Californian veterinarian who reviewed DxE's findings concluded that there are systemic management problems at Vera Goat Dairy, goats are suffering unnecessarily, and the health of workers and consumers is at risk.

These findings constitute violations ofCalifornia Penal Code Section 597, which makes it a crime when a person "inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any manner abuses an animal."

An attorney with DxE's legal team reported DxE's findings at Vera Goat Dairy to the relevant county and state agencies and the RWQCB, but no enforcement actions were taken against the company. The RWQCB acknowledged that disposing of dead animals on site is an ongoing violation they are not addressing due to understaffing and other obstacles.

DxE activists assert that they have a legal right to rescue animals from unlawful abuse when the authorities fail to enforce the law. Tuesday's rescue was not the first rescue at Vera Goat Dairy. During the course of the investigation earlier this year, DxE investigators rescued a sick mother goat and her baby who was attempting to nurse but was unable to due to the mother's distended and inflamed udders, as well as a second baby who was in a state of respiratory distress with nasal discharge. The mother and second baby were both found to have pneumonia and received medical treatment. The second baby also had polyarthritis caused by salmonella bacteria. Investigators contend that these animals were likely to end up in Vera's dead pile given that they would not have received the life-saving medical attention they needed.

“At this facility, mothers and babies are thrown away like trash. Baby goats are starving to death and dying from disease,” said Sally Zito, who participated in today's rescue. “When you come across an individual who is so vulnerable, so sick, so disregarded, and you connect eyes, the suffering in those eyes is overwhelming to see. It's the most basic human instinct -- to rescue someone in need.”

"Vera Dairy is abusing animals in violation of California law. Disease is widespread to the point of forming a literal goat graveyard. This situation is unacceptable, and yet the authorities have done nothing to intervene. That is why we took action today," said Taj Uppal, a California attorney who participated in Tuesday's action and spoke with law enforcement about DxE's findings at Vera Dairy.

Find the full press kit, including photos, video, and detailed information here

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Investigators with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) enter farms, slaughterhouses, and other facilities to document abuses and rescue sick and injured animals. DxE’s investigatory work has been featured in The New York Times, WIRED, and Vox. DxE activists have been subjected to FBI raids and felony prosecutions for their investigative work. In 2022, DxE activists won the first-ever acquittal in an open rescue case. Visit DxE on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and at directactioneverywhere.com.