Activists March Demanding the Release of Animal Rescuer from Jail

Activists march in San Francisco urging Governor Newsom to pardon and release animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg. (Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)

December 13, 2025, San Francisco, CA -- Around 100 Bay Area residents marched through the streets of San Francisco Saturday afternoon demanding the release of animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg from jail. Ms. Rosenberg, a UC Berkeley student and animal cruelty investigator with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), started a 90-day jail sentence at Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on Wednesday for rescuing four suffering chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse in June 2023. DxE investigators have documented evidence of significantly high rates of disease and birds being condemned as “cadavers” at the slaughterhouse, an industry term for birds who were scalded alive.

Following Ms. Rosenberg’s sentencing on December 3, supporters launched a petition at FreeZoe.org, urging Governor Gavin Newsom to pardon her and ensure her immediate release from jail. Over 30,000 people have already signed the petition and signatures were hand-delivered to Newsom’s office in Sacramento this week.

Marchers carried a large 12-foot banner featuring the website FreeZoe.org and an 8-foot banner with “Free Zoe” text and her image. Banners with photos of chickens at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry were also displayed. Activists distributed leaflets directing people to sign the petition to Governor Newsom to pardon Ms. Rosenberg for her act of compassion.

Ms. Rosenberg is required to serve the first 30 days of her 90-day sentence in jail, after which she is eligible to apply for jail alternatives. She is ordered to serve two years of supervised probation, and must obey a no contact order with specific members of DxE, including a former veterinary technician who cared for the chickens she rescued. She was also ordered to pay over $100,000 in restitution to Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry. Ms. Rosenberg was previously forced to wear an ankle monitor for over 20 months awaiting trial. 

Ms. Rosenberg has had Type 1 diabetes since she was eight years old and uses a life-sustaining insulin pump. When she was arrested, the jail threatened to take away the pump, and Ms. Rosenberg was bailed out to protect her life. In September, she was hospitalized with gastroparesis, a partially paralyzed stomach, a complication of her diabetes. She was given a feeding tube in the hospital, which she remains on today. She also continues to take an experimental drug. Supporters say jail time is a “potential death sentence” given Ms. Rosenberg’s serious health issues. WellPath, the for-profit company responsible for medical services inside the Sonoma County jail, has been sued over 1,400 times, including for wrongful deaths.

The march started at Dolores Park and ended at City Hall, with stops at the Attorney General’s SF office and a Trader Joe’s store. Activists delivered speeches urging Attorney General Rob Bonta to hold factory farms accountable to California’s animal cruelty laws and asking Trader Joe’s to stop selling chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry. Trader Joe’s is one of the biggest purchasers of Petaluma Poultry, which it sells under its private label “free-range,” “organic” chicken. 

“I welcomed the opportunity to show up in solidarity for Zoe, to raise attention about her ridiculously punitive jail sentence, and to continue to speak out for the animals who suffer for our pleasure and convenience,” said SF resident Emily Guzzardi, who joined the march.