SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) — A recent UC Berkeley graduate and animal activist is facing years in prison for taking chickens she said were being abused. A question at the center of her trial – did she rescue them or steal them?
There’s video of Zoe Rosenberg taking four chickens from a slaughterhouse in Petaluma. The 23-year-old is now facing several criminal charges and five years in jail.
“I know that animals are suffering. They’re suffering on a massive scale, every second of every day, and honestly I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t do something to try to help these animals,” Rosenberg said.
It happened in June of 2023 at Petaluma Poultry, a division of Perdue Farms. Rosenberg is part of animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere. She said they had been investigating Petaluma Poultry and determined animals were in distress and needed to be rescued.
“It was an environment that really no animal should be in,” Rosenberg said.
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The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office has charged Rosenberg with one count of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanors.
On Friday, Rosenberg took the stand.
“This is not a who done it, and I am taking the stand and saying I did this, I rescued these birds. I entered this slaughterhouse, this is a why done it. What matters in this case is my intent and whether or not I had a good faith belief that what I did was legal and necessary to protect these birds,” Rosenberg said.
A spokesman for Perdue Farms sent us a statement:
“Zoe Rosenberg and her associates illegally broke into Petaluma Poultry – not to save animals, but to steal sensitive company information. That’s not speculation; it’s undisputed. This was not an isolated incident. It was a coordinated operation, carried out with others. As the court has already noted, their actions triggered a temporary facility shutdown and posed contamination risks that created a more dangerous situation than they claimed to be addressing.
The break-in was a well planned deliberate breach of private property with intent steal – a criminal act that was deliberate, strategic, and bordering on corporate espionage or agro-terrorism.”
They also claim Rosenberg’s actions forced them to temporarily close the facility due to contamination risks.
Legal analyst Steven Clark weighed in.
“Certainly the DA’s office is going to want to address that this is a legitimate business that needs to be protected and for the activist. They’re saying there’s a much bigger story here,” Clark said.
He says this brings up the question – where do you draw the line to protect animals?
“A big question is where do you draw the line? We protect animals who are left in a hot car, but you don’t protect animals in this scenario at a slaughterhouse if they’re being mistreated, or abused. That’s the big question,” Clark said.
As far as what lies ahead for Rosenberg, she said she’s representing the four chickens and their stories in court.
“And I know that Poppy, Ivy, Aster and Azalea are just four individuals, but to them, it’s their whole world and they’re still alive today and that means everything,” Rosenberg said.
Her testimony continues Monday.
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