Berkeley Animal Activist Faces Prison in Sonoma Chicken Theft Case

An animal rights advocate accused of stealing four chickens from a Petaluma poultry farm in 2023 will stand trial beginning Monday in Sonoma County, facing nearly five years in prison if convicted.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office, Zoe Rosenberg, an organizer for the Berkeley-based advocacy group Direct Action Everywhere, visited Petaluma Poultry without authorization four times. During those visits, prosecutors say, she attached GPS devices to 12 different farm delivery vehicles.

On June 13, 2023, Rosenberg allegedly entered the farm without permission, took chickens off of a trailer and removed them from the property, according to the complaint.

The “rescue,” as Rosenberg called it, was caught on video by one of her Direct Action Everywhere colleagues and shared with KQED. The footage shows Rosenberg at night, dressed in protective gear, examining crates of chickens on a truck bed before placing four birds carefully into a red bucket.

“They’d been loaded in there just like cargo,” she said. “They could barely stand. They could barely turn around. They were just packed in so tightly.”

The chickens — now named Poppy, Ivy, Aster and Azalea — were covered in scratches and bruises and now live at an undisclosed animal sanctuary, Rosenberg said.

Months after the incident, police arrested Rosenberg on felony conspiracy and misdemeanor charges. She was taken into custody and later released on bail.

At her release hearing, prosecutors argued she posed a threat to the public, and Rosenberg was ordered to wear a GPS ankle monitor, which she has worn since. She is also prohibited from possessing chickens, ducks or any other type of fowl.

“It’s definitely been overwhelming,” said Rosenberg, a UC Berkeley senior. “There’s been days where I’ve had to miss class to drive to Santa Rosa and spend all day in a courtroom.”

Both Petaluma Poultry and its corporate owner, Perdue Farms, declined interview requests.

Rosenberg’s legal team will attempt to persuade a jury that the 2023 incident was a justified rescue.

“It’s not a whodunit, it’s really a whydunit,” said Chris Carraway, Rosenberg’s lawyer. “Zoe believed that this conduct was permissible under the circumstances.”

It’s not the first time Direct Action Everywhere cases have reached a Sonoma County courtroom. In 2023, co-founder Wayne Hsiung was sentenced to two years of probation and 90 days in county jail after being convicted of felony conspiracy tied to farm protests in 2018 and 2019.

Direct Action Everywhere is known for “open rescues,” in which activists enter farms where they believe animals are being abused and remove them. The group said it aims to expand laws that allow rescuing dogs from hot cars to include removing animals from farms where abuse is suspected.

“While we welcome open and honest discussion about the welfare of animals, we strongly oppose the extreme tactics used by (Direct Action Everywhere),” Perdue Chief Human Resources Officer Julie Katigan said in a statement. “These are not the actions of an organization seeking constructive dialogue.”

“The ongoing prosecution is not about silencing speech—it is about holding accountable a pattern of calculated, unlawful activity,” added a Petaluma Poultry spokesperson in a statement.

The activist group was also behind Measure J, the controversial 2024 ballot measure that sought to ban large animal farms in Sonoma County. Voters rejected it overwhelmingly.

Many farmers and ranchers in Sonoma County have called the group “extremist” and said its tactics are unlawful and dangerous.

Mike Weber, who co-owns a chicken farm in Petaluma targeted by Direct Action Everywhere in 2018, said activists’ actions go far beyond animal welfare.

“Having to deal with a bunch of activists that are trying to break into your operation, are putting tracking devices on farm vehicles so they can see where the farm vehicles are — that goes beyond the line,” he said. “That has nothing to do with animal welfare. I’d like to see that come to an end.”

As she faces a trial that could last for several weeks and up to four-and-a-half years in prison, Rosenberg said the animals are helping her cope.

“When I really put it into perspective, I know that there’s nothing that they have done to me or could possibly do to me that would ever compare to the level of suffering that animals endure every second of their lives,” she said. “That’s what keeps me going, even when things feel very overwhelming and scary.”