houses and cars are inanimate objects.

Juries acquited these activists of theft in previous cases, because they were shown footage of the awful condition the stolen animals were in. Which was why, in this case, the prosecutors dropped the theft charges, put a gag order on the footage, and instead threw a “felony conspiracy to commit trespassing” charge at the leader of the group, who didn’t even participate directly in stealing the animals.

Sentient beings are not houses or cars. If parents abuse their babies, they will get them taken from them. Same should apply to animals.