SF Resident Charged with Felony Vandalism for Supergluing Hand to Trader Joe's Meat Case

SF resident Ani Kandada speaks out while superglued to the refrigerator that holds chicken bodies for sale inside Trader Joes in Pasadena, CA on July 2, 2025. (Credit: Michelle Del Cueto)

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

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July 3, 2025, PASADENA, CA --On Wednesday afternoon,an animal rights activist, Ani Kandada of San Francisco, was arrested by Pasadena police after supergluing his hand to the refrigerator containing chicken bodies inside the original Trader Joe's store located at 610 S Arroyo Pkwy, Pasadena, CA. Kandada was protesting the retailer's continued sale of chickens from Perdue's Petaluma Poultry, a company that has for years faced complaints of animal cruelty and abnormally high rates of pathogens .

A group of around 20 activists also protested inside the store with banners, signs, and megaphones, delivering speeches in front of the chicken bodies and in the checkout aisle, including standing on top of a checkout lane. The protest continued outside the store with a large poster showing Trader Joe's President Bryan Palbaum's face with a speech bubble reading "I sell animal cruelty."

The protesters are members of the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE). Over the past 7 years, DxE investigators have documented systemic animal abuse at Petaluma Poultry factory farms in Sonoma County and its slaughterhouse in Petaluma, CA. This includes evidence of birds who were scalded alive, birds suffering from infectious diseases that threaten public health, and injured birds who were unable to walk to access food or water. DxE says the findings demonstrate clear violations of California Penal Code Section 597 , which prohibits subjecting an animal to “needless suffering” or inflicting “unnecessary cruelty upon the animal."

Sonoma County’s Animal Services Department referred a Petaluma Poultry factory 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. Law enforcement never filed charges and has taken no action to enforce animal cruelty laws violated by Petaluma Poultry.

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.

Over recent months, hundreds of people have emailed, called, and delivered physical letters to Trader Joe's headquarters detailing the issues at Petaluma Poultry and urging the retailer to cut ties. DxE activists have also protested at dozens of Trader Joe's stores across the country over the past two months.

Before the protest, Kandada said, "Trader Joe's poses as a 'neighborhood store' you can trust, but this multi-billion dollar company is profiting off of extreme cruelty to animals. The 'organic,' 'free-range' chicken sold in Trader Joe's own packaging actually comes from filthy, disease-ridden factory farms operated by the agribusiness giant Perdue, through their California subsidiary, Petaluma Poultry. We've repeatedly sent Trader Joe's the evidence of these young chickens suffering from rampant infections and painful injuries without any medical care. They have ignored all our pleas to cut ties with Perdue's Petaluma Poultry."

Kandada's hand was removed with a solvent. Then, he was arrested and taken to Pasadena jail, where he was booked and remained for around 3 hours. He was released just before 7PM with a felony vandalism charge. Kandada said, "It is absurd that I'm being charged with felony vandalism. The refrigerator is perfectly fine, my hand is fine, but the chickens are not fine. They are still suffering egregious animal cruelty at Perdue's Petaluma Poultry factory farms and slaughterhouse. I will continue to call on Trader Joe's to cut ties with this criminal animal abuser."

Earlier Wednesday, another DxE activist was arrested after supergluing her hand to the front desk of the Trader Joe's headquarters in Monrovia, CA. She was charged with trespass and released from Monrovia jail in less than 2 hours.

Both activists are available for interviews.

DxE animal cruelty investigator Zoe Rosenberg is currently facing a felony prosecution in Santa Rosa, CA for rescuing four suffering birds from the Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse in June 2023. Her trial starts September 15th.

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 .

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