Name: Activists arrested after chaining themselves outside Iowa facility where pigs euthanized
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Activists arrested after chaining themselves outside Iowa facility where pigs euthanized

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Des Moines RegisterView CommentsThree members of an animal rights group were charged with trespass after chaining themselves Sunday to a fence surrounding an Iowa facility where thousands of pigs were euthanized last month, authorities said.Also over the weekend, law enforcement officials arrested Matt Johnson, an investigator for the group&nbsp;Direct Action Everywhere, and charged him with third-degree burglary, three counts of trespass at an agricultural production facility, and electronic eavesdropping.The activists supporting the California animal rights group have targeted Iowa Select Farms, a pork production facility, in a flurry of activities over the past month.&nbsp;Last week, Johnson released of Iowa Select workers euthanizing thousands of pigs at a Grundy County facility by shutting down ventilation and increasing the heat and humidity.Iowa Select, the largest pork producer in Iowa, said the action was necessary, given supply-chain disruptions tied to the global pandemic. The state estimates that 600,000 pigs in Iowa will be destroyed after COVID-19 sickened thousands of workers at meatpacking plants across the Midwest, temporarily closing or slowing operations.Iowa has lost about 30% of its capacity to process pigs, backing up animals on farms across the state. Local meat lockers also are overwhelmed with processing requests, and some are booked for&nbsp;the next year.Johnson and another woman were charged with trespass in connection with the Grundy County incident.&nbsp;Activists returned to the Iowa Select facility Sunday and three Direct Action Everywhere supporters chained themselves to the fence around it, authorities said.&nbsp;Grundy County Sheriff&nbsp;Rick Penning said Monday his office charged&nbsp;Cheyanne Holliday, 20, and Justin Jeske, 24, both of Fairfield, and&nbsp;Scott Gilbertson, 19, of Albert Lea, Minnesota, with trespass, a simple misdemeanor.Jen Sorenson, a spokeswoman for Iowa Select Farms, said&nbsp;the Iowa Falls company has taken "additional measures to protect our facilities,"&nbsp;including the recently installed fence."We are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation," Sorenson said in an email.Johnson said he was arrested in Polk County on Saturday and driven to Wright County, where he appeared before a judge Sunday on&nbsp;the burglary and trespass charges before being&nbsp;released.The Wright County Sheriff's Office alleges that Johnson entered&nbsp;a sow facility near Dows on May 3, 4 and 25 and left with a piglet on his last trip.Johnson said he was documenting "horrific conditions" inside the confinement facility where sows were being contained in gestation pens and some piglets that "weren't perfect" were killed. He said he rescued a pig and provided it with veterinary care for an infection on its face.Wright County Attorney Eric Simonson said Monday he's reviewing the agricultural production facility trespass charges and will likely amend them to simple trespass.A federal court judge issued an injunction in December preventing Iowa's agricultural production facility trespass law from being enforced while it's being challenged in court. It's the state's second so-called "ag-gag" law, which&nbsp;makes it a serious misdemeanor for whistleblowers, undercover activists and others to take pictures or videos at meatpacking plants and livestock facilities.Simonson said the eavesdropping charge carries a penalty on conviction of up to a year in jail, with up to five years for the burglary count.Johnson said Monday he's started a hunger strike that he will continue until Gov. Kim Reynolds calls for an "independent review of the euthanasia standards."The American Association of Swine Veterinarians says shutting down a confinement's ventilation — which raises&nbsp;the herd's temperature&nbsp;and causes&nbsp;animals to die of hyperthermia — is an acceptable form of euthanasia in&nbsp;“constrained circumstances.”The group's board this month identified the&nbsp;COVID-19 meatpacking disruption as one of those situations. An Iowa State University swine veterinarian&nbsp;said shutting down ventilation is&nbsp;likely the best approach to euthanizing&nbsp;a large number of pigs.It's safer for farmers than shooting, electrocution or using other preferred methods, which are more appropriate when euthanizing a small number of animals, he said.Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her&nbsp;at deller@registermedia.com or 515-284-8457.&nbsp;Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at .View Comments

Des Moines RegisterView CommentsThree members of an animal rights group were charged with trespass after chaining themselves Sunday to a fence surrounding an Iowa facility where thousands of pigs were euthanized last month, authorities said.Also over the weekend, law enforcement officials arrested Matt Johnson, an investigator for the group&nbsp;Direct Action Everywhere, and charged him with third-degree burglary, three counts of trespass at an agricultural production facility, and electronic eavesdropping.The activists supporting the California animal rights group have targeted Iowa Select...

Activists arrested after chaining themselves outside Iowa facility where pigs euthanized

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