Animal Rights Activists Disrupt Trader Joe's in Berkeley, Oakland, SF

Contact: Cassie King, (510) 507-8075, cassie@directactioneverywhere.com

Direct Action Everywhere activists protest dozens of Trader Joe’s stores across the country asking the retailer to cut ties with Perdue’s California subsidiary, Petaluma Poultry, given documented animal abuse

DxE activists protest in front of Trader Joe’s on University Ave. in Berkeley on May 3, 2025. (Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)

Photos & Videos from All Local Actions (Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)

May 4, 2025, Various cities in the Bay Area, CA - This weekend, members of the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) disrupted Trader Joe's stores in Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco, urging the national grocery chain to stop purchasing chickens from Petaluma Poultry, a subsidiary of the national poultry giant Perdue Farms. For years, Petaluma Poultry has faced complaints of animal cruelty and abnormally high rates of pathogens . Many Trader Joe’s customers have emailed, called, and commented on social media asking the retailer to cut ties with Petaluma Poultry.

These disruptions were part of a nationwide weekend of action with protests at 28 Trader Joe’s locations across the country, including in Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Denver, and Washington, D.C. Closer to the Bay, there were also protests in Sacramento, San Carlos, and Petaluma.

Protesters entered the stores and delivered speeches in front of the meat sections informing customers about the animal cruelty and health risks at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry. Then, they continued to protest outside the stores with additional speeches and chanting. They held signs reading “Trader Joe’s Sells Animal Cruelty” and various banners reading “Drop Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry” and handed out information to customers.

“It’s simple. If you saw where these animals came from, you wouldn’t buy them,” said Lewis Bernier, a factory farm investigator with DxE. “Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry is breaking the law and misleading consumers. Trader Joe’s is selling you Perdue’s lies.”

Since 2018, DxE investigators have documented routine violations of California's animal cruelty laws at Petaluma Poultry factory farms in Sonoma County, including birds collapsed on the floor or stuck on their backs and unable to access food or water. Sonoma County’s Animal Services Department referred a Petaluma Poultry farm as a suspect for animal cruelty, after examining birds from the farm and finding that they were emaciated, bruised, unable to walk, and had necrotic wounds so deep that muscle and bone were exposed.

Additionally, as reported by The Press Democrat, USDA reports from the Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse show it has four times the national rate of campylobacter and four times the state rate of salmonella, two pathogens that commonly cause illness in humans.

DxE investigator Zoe Rosenberg is facing a felony prosecution for openly rescuing four suffering birds from the Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse in June 2023. Her trial will begin September 15, 2025 in Santa Rosa.

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Investigators with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) enter farms, slaughterhouses, and other facilities to document abuses and rescue sick and injured animals. DxE’s investigatory work has been featured in The New York Times, WIRED, and Vox . DxE activists have been subjected to FBI raids and felony prosecutions for their investigative work. In 2022, DxE activists won the first-ever acquittal in an open rescue case. Visit DxE on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and at directactioneverywhere.com.