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Activists Disrupt Dinner at Playa Mill Valley Over Ties to Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry
Activists march through Playa Mill Valley on Saturday, February 1, 2025, urging the restaurant to drop Perdue's Petaluma Poultry as a supplier.
Photo: DirectActionEverywhere
(February 2, 2025, Mill Valley, CA) - On Saturday evening, animal rights activists disrupted the dinner service at the upscale restaurant Playa Mill Valley in Marin County, asking the restaurant to cut ties with Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry due to documented animal cruelty. Playa Mill Valley’s menu lists “Rocky Jr. chicken,” one of Petaluma Poultry’s brands.The activists entered the packed restaurant shortly after 6 PM and walked to the back where they held signs and spoke to the customers and staff. This was followed by a protest outside with activists distributing leaflets to the public, delivering more speeches, and displaying a banner and signs that read “Drop Perdue's Petaluma Poultry.”
The protest was organized by the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), whose investigators have documented systemic animal abuse at Petaluma Poultry factory farms and its slaughterhouse. Petaluma Poultry is a “free range” and partially “organic” subsidiary of Perdue Farms, one of the four largest poultry producers in the United States.
In addition to restaurants, Perdue's Petaluma Poultry supplies to major grocery chains including Trader Joe’s and Safeway. DxE is also calling on these grocery stores to drop Petaluma Poultry. Last week, Paris Hilton added her voice to the effort, commenting on a DxE Instagram video tagging Trader Joe’s and saying, “Trader Joe’s please do the right thing and cut ties with Petaluma Poultry.”
Since 2018, DxE investigators have documented routine violations of California's animal cruelty laws at several Petaluma Poultry factory farms in Northern California and the company's slaughterhouse, including birds collapsed on the floor or stuck on their backs and unable to walk to food or water, left to slowly starve to death; birds with splayed legs; birds with open wounds; and infectious diseases that threaten public health. DxE says the findings demonstrate clear violations of California Penal Code Section 597. In particular, birds who are collapsed and unable to walk cannot access food and water and it is a crime to deprive animals of "necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter."
Last year, celebrity chef Tyler Florence and all of his San Francisco restaurants cut ties with Petaluma Poultry after protests brought these findings to their attention. A representative from Florence’s team said, “This action reflects Tyler’s ongoing commitment to exploring partnerships that align with his values and the betterment of the culinary community at large.”
DxE investigator Zoe Rosenberg is currently facing felony charges in Sonoma County for rescuing sick birds from the Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse in June 2023. Her trial is set to start May 16, 2025 in Santa Rosa.
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