Felony Animal Rescue Trial Begins

Photos: Leon Kunstenaar

SEPTEMBER 15, 2025, SANTA ROSA, CA - Trial is underway in the high-profile case of animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg, who is charged with felony conspiracy and three misdemeanors for her June 2023 rescue of four ailing chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse. Her charges carry a maximum sentence of up to nearly five years in jail, and she has been forced to wear a GPS ankle monitor for over 20 months while awaiting trial. Ms. Rosenberg is represented by Chris Carraway, Staff Attorney at the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project (AALDP). In 2023, Mr. Carraway successfully represented another animal rescuer who was acquitted of theft charges for rescuing a bird from a slaughter truck. 

“Had Ms. Rosenberg taken four dead chickens from a supermarket meat case, I cannot imagine her facing such hefty charges and steep penalties, nor being surveilled for two years,” said Mr. Carraway. “We should all consider: why is taking farmed animals to live at a sanctuary such a provocative act?”

Around 100 people gathered at the Sonoma County courthouse Monday morning to attend the trial in support of Ms. Rosenberg and the right to rescue animals from abuse. 

Ms. Rosenberg is an animal cruelty investigator with the grassroots animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE). Her open rescue was prompted by years of investigations exposing 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 own 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. The factory farm was never prosecuted.

Activists are also concerned about Petaluma Poultry’s systemic issues with zoonotic bacteria that can be transmitted to humans. The Press Democrat and ProPublica have both reported on the abnormally high rates of pathogens at Petaluma Poultry’s slaughterhouse.

"The chickens I rescued, who I named Poppy, Ivy, Aster, and Azalea, were covered in scratches and bruises, filled with parasites and battling infections,” said Ms. Rosenberg. “I did what I think most people would’ve done if faced with such suffering: I acted to stop it, to get them help. Today, they are safe and happy at an animal sanctuary."

Petaluma Poultry is a “free range” and partially “organic” subsidiary of Perdue Farms, the fourth largest poultry producer in the United States. It supplies to major grocery chains including Trader Joe’s and Safeway.

In recent years, DxE activists have won the first two acquittals for open rescue in history, in trials in St. George, Utah and Merced, California. Activists believe these trials are critical steps toward establishing a “Right to Rescue” animals in distress and defining nonhuman animals as persons, not property, under the law. 

Today, the court is hearing motions regarding what evidence and arguments will be permitted at trial. Jury selection is anticipated to begin mid-week. The trial is expected to last 3-4 weeks. 

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The Animal Activist Legal Defense Project at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law works to empower and defend animal advocates through activist defense, affirmative litigation, and training law students to join and transform the field of Animal Law. Learn more at: AALDP.com and follow us on Twitter/X at @AALDP_DU.