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December 5, 2025

Judge Sentences California Animal Rights Activist to 90 Days in Jail for Freeing Abused Chickens
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A University of California student has been ordered to serve 90 days in
jail for breaking into a Sonoma County poultry slaughterhouse and
freeing four chickens. Twenty-three-year-old Zoe Rosenberg of Berkeley
received the sentence on Wednesday, after a jury convicted her in
October of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanor counts. She was
ordered to pay more than $100,000 to Petaluma Poultry, which is owned by
the agribusiness giant Perdue Farms. Rosenberg's supporters with the
group Direct Action Everywhere say the chickens she rescued were worth
$24; they're reportedly alive and well at a sanctuary for rescued farm
animals. Rosenberg told supporters her action was prompted by
investigations that found routine violations of California's animal
cruelty laws at Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouses.

Zoe Rosenberg: "We found that there were dead birds among the living,
that the air quality was so poor that chickens were struggling to
breathe. I myself was struggling to breathe even with a KN95 mask as I
investigated this facility. … And we have been calling on the California
attorney general to take action, because the Sonoma County District
Attorney's Office has made it abundantly clear that they do not care
about these animals whatsoever, that they care far more about the
profits of Perdue, a company that makes over $10 billion a year on the
backs of these animals."



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