{"id":781120,"date":"2026-05-08T09:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=781120"},"modified":"2026-05-08T10:00:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:00:41","slug":"wayne-hsiung-the-dog-ill-go-to-prison-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=781120","title":{"rendered":"‘YPP5’: The dog I\u2019ll go to prison for"},"content":{"rendered":"

Animal advocacy has existed for millennia, going back to ancient Greek philosophers such as Plutarch, who compared the slaughter of animals to the slaughter of human beings. But for those same millennia, no one has really listened to us. ‘Yes, animal cruelty is not great,’ the authorities say. ‘But it\u2019s not that big of a deal.’ But it is that big of a deal. The average experience of a land animal on Earth is that of a tortured creature trapped in a cage. What is happening to other animals, is an emergency. A crime. An atrocity. And we now have people stepping up to show this. If people continue to risk everything for the animals, even the authorities will be forced to see them, not as ‘things,’ but as sentient beings.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WAYNE HSIUNG:<\/strong> The beagle with the serial code YPP5 seared into his ear burst through the broken window into a bright new world on March 15, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

Moments earlier, my friend Austin had taken this sad-eyed puppy from a cage at Ridglan Farms and thrust him into my hands through a window. YPP5 was trembling. The rush of new sights and sounds \u2014 the mass of people in white Tyvek suits, the crack of thunder in the sky\u2014must have been a terrifying experience. I carried him to a member of our rescue team.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s yours. Keep him safe,\u201d I said with one look. And then I went back for more.<\/em><\/p>\n

But before I could take another dog, the police arrived and put me in handcuffs. I watched as they converged on rescuers all around me. My heart sank. Was YPP5 seized by the police? Was he back in a Ridglan cage, destined for surgical mutilation or death?<\/em><\/p>\n

Would he ever get a hug or see the sun again? Would YPP5 ever get a real name?<\/em><\/p>\n

I thought of that moment this week as felony burglary charges were formally brought against me and three other rescuers. The government wants to teach us a lesson: it\u2019s not worth it.<\/em><\/p>\n

What the authorities don\u2019t appreciate is that the repression will backfire. Because the repression is merely highlighting that it is worth it. The public recognizes that abused animals are not \u201cthings\u201d but sentient beings with inherent value. And when state repression forces our society to answer the question \u2014 what is an animal worth? \u2014 the people are siding with us…<\/em><\/p>\n

The New Yorker\u2019s Jay Kang wrote that this rapid institutional change is \u201ca case study in effective activism\u201d driven by \u201ca lot of people willing and ready to go to jail through putting their bodies on the line.\u201d It\u2019s hard to be against grandmas brave enough to face off against police violence.<\/em><\/p>\n

But the most important place this debate is unfolding is in the animal movement itself. Animal advocacy has existed for millennia, going back to ancient Greek philosophers such as Plutarch, who compared the slaughter of animals to the slaughter of human beings. But for those same millennia, no one has really listened to us.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, animal cruelty is not great,\u201d the authorities say. \u201cBut it\u2019s not that big of a deal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But it is that big of a deal. The average experience of a land animal on Earth is that of a tortured creature trapped in a cage. What is happening to YPP5, and other animals, is an emergency. A crime. An atrocity. And we now have people stepping up to show this…<\/em><\/p>\n

If people continue to risk everything for the animals, even the authorities will be forced to see them, not as \u201cthings,\u201d but as sentient beings.<\/em><\/p>\n

That includes YPP5. In one of my first calls upon getting out of jail, a member of the rescue team gave me the good news.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got him. He\u2019s safe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The fight isn\u2019t over. I and my co-defendants face up to 12 years in prison at a trial that will unfold in the next few months. More importantly, there are 40,000 other dogs across the nation still trapped and awaiting torture or death in laboratory cages. More people will need to step up if we\u2019re going to save them.<\/em><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s worth it. YPP5 is worth it. Because he is not a serial code. He is James. And yesterday, James flew to his new forever home with me, my wife Rose, and our other little boy Oliver. James is family. So too are the other animals of this earth. And we will risk everything to rescue them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Let them try to imprison us for protecting our families. It will only prove that, when we say the animals must be freed, we mean what we say. <\/em>SOURCE<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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