Protest at Berkeley Trader Joe's Over Sale of Chickens from Perdue's Petaluma Poultry

Saturday, August 23, 2025, BERKELEY, CA -- Nearly 40 activists with the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) protested outside the Trader Joe's store in Berkeley, once again urging the retailer to cut ties with Petaluma Poultry. 

Petaluma Poultry is a full-owned subsidiary of national poultry giant Perdue Foods and it supplies Trader Joe’s “free-range,” “organic” chicken. DxE says the true conditions at Petaluma Poultry are a far cry from humane or free-range. DxE investigators have documented systemic animal cruelty at Petaluma Poultry factory farms in Sonoma County and its Petaluma slaughterhouse, including sick and injured birds left without access to food or water and evidence of birds who entered the slaughterhouse scalding tank while still conscious and were boiled alive. 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.”

At the protest in Berkeley, demonstrators held photos of chickens at Petaluma Poultry while several activists delivered speeches to inform customers about animal cruelty and health risks at Petaluma Poultry, while a large LED panel showed videos of ill and injured chickens at Petaluma Poultry facilities. After over an hour of speeches and and call-and-response chants, activists took a moment of silence to simply play audio recordings of chickens screaming during slaughter.

“We can tell people about what happens to the chickens, but it’s different for people to see these individuals directly on screen, collapsed on their backs and struggling to move,” said protester Alex Taylor of Berkeley. “I would hope that seeing these suffering, neglected animals would convince Trader Joe’s to drop Petaluma Poultry, but they continue to choose profits over what is right.” 

Speakers at the protest included DxE investigator Zoe Rosenberg, who is facing one felony and three misdemeanors for openly rescuing four suffering birds from the Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse in June 2023. Her trial begins September 15, 2025 in Santa Rosa. 

Protesters also handed out their own version of Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer, titled “Fearless Liar,” to customers exiting and entering the store.