In just 9 days, one of the most important trials in animal rights history will begin. My friend Matt Johnson faces a felony charge for saving the life of a sick baby pig, and exposing one of the most disturbing episodes of animal torture in recent memory: ventilation shutdown (VSD) at Iowa Select Farms, or ISF. The practice of VSD, which involves shutting down the vents in a building and pumping in hot steam, leads to hours of torment before the animals die. And for working with an employee at ISF to blow the whistle on this practice, Matt is facing 8 years in prison. 

This is wrong on so many levels. But to understand why this is happening, we have to understand the deep and systemic roots of animal exploitation. And that’s why this conversation I had with Matt and Jon Frohnmayer is so important. Matt and Jon, you see, are not your prototypical animal rights activists. Matt grew up in rural Iowa surrounded by pig farms, and still has family members in the industry. Jon’s dad was the Republican Attorney General of Oregon, where he prosecuted a case involving the Animal Liberation Front. Both were deeply entrenched in the system – but they got out. 

This conversation will show you how and why. 

Now we have to try to help an Iowa jury understand that, too. This is the make or break year, not just for animal rights defendants, but for the movement. If we can show the world that even residents of rural Iowa won’t stand for practices like VSD, it’ll send shockwaves through the system. If, in contrast, Matt goes to prison for blowing the whistle on one of the most horrific cases of animal torture in history, it’ll be a stark indication of a corrupt system. But no matter what happens in 9 days, making change will depend on a mass of people raising their voice together. 

Change, in other words, depends on you. 

Hidden Video and Whistleblower Reveal Gruesome Mass-Extermination Method for Iowa Pigs Amid Pandemic - The Intercept

AFTER PORK GIANT WAS EXPOSED FOR CRUEL KILLINGS, THE FBI PURSUED ITS CRITICS - The Intercept

Music by Moby: Everything That Rises