An animal rights activist and UC Berkeley student was convicted Wednesday after releasing four chickens from a Sonoma County poultry facility — a caper she characterized as a rescue mission, but farm owners said was common theft.
In a trial closely monitored by the poultry industry and animal rights groups, Zoe Rosenberg, 23, was found guilty of a felony charge of conspiracy, two misdemeanor counts of trespass and one count of tampering with a vehicle.
She faces a possible sentence of up to five years. But she urged animal rights supporters not to let her conviction interrupt their activism.
“Prosecutors hope that this will deter people from speaking up for animals, that it will deter people from rescuing them,” Rosenberg said in an Instagram video after the verdict was read. “I ask that you do not let it. We will continue on, no matter what, until every animal is safe and happy, free.”
Industry officials argue activist groups associated with Rosenberg harassed workers and poultry companies, trying to draw attention to their cause and using illegal action in the process.
According to prosecutors, Rosenberg planned for weeks to break into Perdue Farms’ Petaluma Poultry and remove chickens from the facility, a caper that involved disguises, fake employee uniforms, tracking devices, rented vehicles and an “Airbnb safe house.”
“The jury’s verdict makes it clear: Personal beliefs don’t justify breaking the law,” Herb Frerichs, general counsel for Petaluma Poultry, said in a statement. “This kind of behavior has no place in any community that respects the rule of law.”
Sonoma County prosecutors said Rosenberg led the social media wing of Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, an animal rights group that, according to its website, “reject[s] the speciesism that enables the mass torture and killing of nonhuman animals.”
The group has used “rescues” to draw attention to its cause and taken similar cases to court.
In a statement, Sonoma County Dist. Atty. Carla Rodriguez criticized the group’s tactics, saying the activists need to be held accountable when they “cross that line.”
“Unfortunately, some activist groups continue to show a deliberate disregard for the law, believing that their personal cause justifies criminal conduct,” she said in a statement. “They have attempted to use the criminal justice system itself as a platform to gain attention and further their movement. The court system exists to uphold justice — not to serve as a stage for self-promotion or lawless behavior.”
Rosenberg, in her testimony, confirmed that she helped craft social media content to push DxE’s public campaign against the poultry farm.
She is looking to appeal her conviction, DxE said in a statement.
The organization said Rosenberg’s attorneys were not allowed to present a “necessity defense,” in which attorneys could admit evidence that a crime was committed to prevent a greater harm or argue Rosenberg had no reasonable legal alternative to prevent the harm.
The group also argued that attorneys were restricted on presenting animal cruelty evidence during the trial.
“These charges carry a potential sentence of nearly 5 years in jail,” DxE said in a statement. “Meanwhile, Petaluma Poultry faces no consequences for leaving sick animals to die or scalding animals alive.”
Industry officials have criticized DxE for its tactics. In a statement, Perdue called the organization a “radical activist group.”
On Nov. 30, 2023, DxE co-founder Wayne Hsiung was sentenced to 90 days in jail after he and others from the group took dozens of chickens and ducks from Petaluma-area farms. He was convicted of one count of felony conspiracy to commit trespass and two misdemeanor charges of trespass, according to court records.
“For years, DxE has harassed farm families and workers, trespassed on private property and stolen from local businesses,” Dayna Ghirardelli, executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, said in a statement. “Our community has consistently rejected their extreme tactics, and this verdict reinforces that.”
Rosenberg, in her Instagram post, said the judge ordered her to wear an ankle monitor until her Dec. 3 sentencing hearing.
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