Trader Joe's Sues Animal Rights Activists

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

Activists to protest at Oakland Trader Joe's tonight playing the sounds of chickens screaming as they are slaughtered; they say Trader Joe's seeks to conceal animal cruelty and public health risks from customers

July 14, 2025, ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA --Trader Joe's sued the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), its SF Bay Area chapter, and five individuals in Alameda County Superior Court, seeking an injunction barring activists from using Trader Joe's property "as a forum for the expression of their views." The lawsuit describes animal rights protests at Trader Joe's locations in Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Petaluma, and Santa Rosa, where DxE activists urged Trader Joe's to cut ties with Perdue's Petaluma Poultry.

Petaluma Poultry is a "free range" and partially "organic" subsidiary of Perdue Foods, the fourth largest poultry producer in the United States. Trader Joe's sells Petaluma Poultry chicken (identified by USDA plant code P2882 ) in its own Trader Joe's-branded packaging .

Over the past seven years, DxE investigators have documented systemic animal abuse at Petaluma Poultry factory farms in Sonoma County and its slaughterhouse in Petaluma, CA, including:

• Birds suffering from infectious diseases that threaten public health
• Injured birds who were unable to walk to access food or water
• Evidence of birds who were scalded alive at the slaughterhouse

DxE says these 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." DxE 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.

"When ordinary people see an animal suffering from illness or injury without care, they are outraged," said DxE Lead Organizer Almira Tanner , one of the individually named defendants in the lawsuit. "They certainly don't want to be duped into paying for animal cruelty that is humane-washed with marketing terms like 'free-range.' Trader Joe's knows the public does not support the factory farm cruelty at Perdue's Petaluma Poultry and that's why they are so desperate to hide it and silence us."

The Press Democrat has reported on USDA reports from the Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse showing 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 activists have repeatedly emailed, called, and delivered physical letters to Trader Joe's headquarters in Monrovia, CA detailing the issues at Petaluma Poultry and urging the retailer to cut ties. Activists have also protested at dozens of Trader Joe's stores across the country in recent months. Celebrities, including Paris Hilton , have added their voices to the campaign, calling on Trader Joe's to cut ties with Perdue's Petaluma Poultry.

"I’ve seen firsthand the cruelty at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry—chickens sick, injured, crammed into filthy crates, left to suffer in agony," said Carla Cabral,one of the named defendants."We brought this to Trader Joe’s, but instead of listening, they blocked us, refused all dialogue, and hired powerful attorneys to try to shut us up. Customers have made it clear—they don’t want to be lied to. They want ethical products they can trust. So why won’t Trader Joe’s live up to the values they claim to hold?"

Despite the legal repression, Cabral and other DxE activists say they will continue protesting on behalf of the chickens at Petaluma Poultry.

Tonight, Monday, July 14th, at 6:00pm, DxE activists will protest inside the Oakland Trader Joe's store located at 5727 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618. Protesters will sit in front of the refrigerator holding chickens who were slaughtered at Petaluma Poultry while playing a recording of chickens screaming as they are slaughtered.

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 .

###