An animal rights activist who ran for mayor of Berkeley last year has been convicted of multiple felony charges after stealing a newborn goat from a farm in North Carolina.
A Transylvania County Superior Court sentenced Wayne Hsiung to a six-to-17-month suspended sentence last week. He will be placed on probation for 24 months and must pay $250 in restitution to the breeder.
The incident occurred in 2018 before Hsiung’s unsuccessful run for mayor. During the campaign, Hsiung insisted his potential jail stint wouldn’t interfere with his duties as mayor.
It wasn’t the first time Hsiung snatched an animal from private property. A group he founded, Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), has carried out so-called “open rescues” at farms across the country and Hsiung is facing similar charges in other states.
The goat that was stolen from the North Carolina farm was just six days old and was being cared for by its mother at the time. The “rescue” was streamed on Facebook Live.
“It’s heartbreaking to take this baby away from its mother,” Hsiung admits in the video. “We are going to say we are sorry to this mother and tell her that we are going to give her baby a good life.”
The goat’s owner, Susan Burnside, said the mother cried for days after the incident. DxE said it was for the kid’s own good and that a vet later determined it had pneumonia. Burnside argues the goat was perfectly healthy until DxE members took it out into the rain and fed it incorrectly, causing it to aspirate.
DxE never gave the goat back. It claims the animal is living peacefully at an unnamed sanctuary. As for Hsiung’s conviction, he thinks it’s a good thing because it brings attention to the cause of animal welfare. Hsiung also plans to appeal.