CONTACTS:

• Lia Wilbourn, In Defense of Animals, (707) 776-6828, lia@idausa.org
• Rachel Bordoli, SF Vegan Society, rachel@sfvs.org

CORTE MADERA, Calif. (July 8, 2026) — Animal activists have released unedited video of U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman openly admitting that animals suffer in all farms and slaughterhouses. The exchange, captured on Saturday during the Marin County Fourth of July Parade in Larkspur and Corte Madera, provides a high-profile validation from a federal lawmaker for the organizations’ ongoing campaign against the deceptive marketing tactics known as “humanewashing.”

In the video, Lia Wilbourn with In Defense of Animals approaches the congressman’s vehicle whilst it is paused along the parade route. Wilbourn directly asks if Representative Huffman agrees that animals suffer in all farms and slaughterhouses.

Congressman Huffman explicitly replies, “I know. Yeah.” However, the moment Wilbourn urges him to consider the “inherent cruelties and violence in all animal farming” and to “respect all animals,” the congressman declines to answer.

“You said one question,” he stated, declining further questions and letting his vehicle slowly roll away, while casually wishing the activists a “good Fourth of July.”

Watch the unedited video: https://youtube.com/shorts/Tloxh-Exy6M

“Most people love animals and don’t want to see them suffer, but all farmed animals do suffer in farms and slaughterhouses,” said Lia Wilbourn, Farmed Animals Campaign Specialist for In Defense of Animals. “Representative Huffman’s admission that farmed animals suffer shatters the ‘humane myth’ of animal farming in Marin County and everywhere. All animal farming is inherently cruel. Among other abuses, farms exploit females for their reproductive systems, mutilate them, tear their babies from them, and all the mothers are slaughtered when they’re no longer profitable. Male calves and male chicks are also killed in the dairy and egg industries. Buying animal products, or exploiting animals for anything, contributes to and funds cruelty.”

The exchange occurred amid a larger demonstration by In Defense of Animals and the San Francisco Vegan Society, and other local animal advocates. Marching through the streets of Larkspur and Corte Madera before thousands of parade spectators, activists deployed a large inflatable baby cow, a megaphone and a banner reading: “Respect All Mothers & Their Babies: Ditch Dairy & Be Vegan.” With signs promoting animal rights and veganism, a megaphone, and educational handouts, activists amplified the right of all animals to live free from exploitation.

The demonstration focused on mothers and their babies in the dairy industry and animal farming more broadly. Mother cows carry their babies for nine months and suffer trauma when they are separated. Many try to chase after and protect their babies and are frequently observed bellowing in anguish long after their calves are taken. Female calves are often confined in isolated hutches for weeks, their sensitive horn buds are burned off without anesthesia, and they are forcibly impregnated as young as 1 year old.

While the dairy industry was the primary focus, the action’s central goal was to expose “humanewashing” — the deceptive marketing of animal products as humane. Advocates sought to educate the public about veganism, the principle that humans should live without exploiting animals. They emphasized that respecting animals means honoring and defending their inherent right to their own bodies, babies, and lives. 

In the egg industry, male chicks are killed upon hatching because they do not produce eggs. Meanwhile, pigs, cows, turkeys, goats, sheep, and chickens are subjected to forced breeding, extreme confinement, mutilations without painkillers, family separation and slaughter for their flesh at a fraction of their natural lifespans.

“The San Francisco Vegan Society rejects the fantasy of ‘humane’ animal exploitation,” said Rachel Bordoli, President of San Francisco Vegan Society. “We are proud to join forces with In Defense of Animals and other local activists to march for animal liberation this Independence Day. On a holiday that unfortunately marks the highest single-day meat consumption in the country, we are grateful to be able to exercise our own freedoms to speak out for the billions of farmed animals who have none.”

The parade action follows years of intense, national media scrutiny surrounding Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, where wild Tule elk were freed after being fenced, confined and killed  to protect local ranching profits. Now, the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy are restoring animal exploitation onto the public parklands, spreading disease to Tule elk and poisoning water systems.

Jack Gescheidt, Tule Elk and Environmental Consultant with In Defense of Animals, noted the local hypocrisy, “Marin County is known for its educated, environmentally-minded people who care about animals, but Marin folks have also been culturally conditioned to disconnect their prized, local, organic milk, cheese, ‘dairy’ and ‘beef’ products from the monstrous suffering cows are subjected to and the huge cost to wild animals and the environment. Milk and ‘meat’ makers hide the truth of what amounts to animal slavery; we’re simply talking about it on Independence Day.”

### NOTES ###

IMAGES & VIDEO: https://bit.ly/4thJulyHumaneHuff

HUMANEWASHING INFO: https://www.idausa.org/humanewashing

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization based in California with over 250,000 supporters and a history of defending animals, the environment, and their guardians through education and campaigns, as well as hands-on rescue facilities in India, South Korea, rural Mississippi, and central California, since 1983.

In Defense of Animals provides 24/7 support for activists and free resources to transition to a plant-based diet and veganism: https://idausa.org/farmedanimals

### ENDS ###