Zoe Rosenberg’s attorneys argued that ethics justified her actions — like breaking a car window to rescue an overheating dog. But they failed to convince a jury, which convicted her on all counts. Before her sentencing, Rosenberg published a video montage of herself petting and hugging animals, including a pig, a cow and chickens on Instagram. In the post, she wrote about her worries before the judge’s sentencing decision: “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but I know that billions of animals have never known freedom for even a moment of their lives”.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: Zoe Rosenberg, 23, a recent UC Berkeley student and high-profile representative of Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, a Berkeley-based group seeking “total animal liberation,” must report to the Sonoma County Jail on Dec. 10. She will serve the 90 days, but 60 of those may involve jail alternates. Rosenberg will also have 2 years of probation, and is ordered to stay away from Petaluma Poultry and all Purdue facilities in Sonoma County.
She is also ordered to pay $102,548.09 in restitution to Petaluma Poultry, which has said that any restitution would be given to the local food bank…
Judge Kenneth Gnoss’ decision comes one month after a jury convicted Rosenberg of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanors stemming from a predawn caper in June 2023. Outfitted with protective gear and backed by a support team with listening devices, Rosenberg broke into the Petaluma Poultry property, took four chickens from a company vehicle and carried them away in buckets…
Rosenberg claimed she’d found the birds covered in scratches, bruises and parasites and reported her allegations of animal cruelty to Petaluma police. Instead, she was arrested about six months later at the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office while delivering papers detailing alleged animal cruelty at another Petaluma poultry ranch…
In court, Rosenberg characterized her prosecution as an overreaction to her well-meaning rescue of chickens worth about $24. Her attorneys argued that ethics justified her actions — like breaking a car window to rescue an overheating dog. But she failed to convince a jury, which convicted her on all counts…
Before her sentencing, Rosenberg published a video montage of herself petting and hugging animals, including a pig, a cow and chickens on Instagram, where she has more than 200,000 followers. In the years since her arrest, Rosenberg’s publicity campaign has attracted the attention of celebrities Joaquin Phoenix and Paris Hilton.
In the post, she wrote about her worries before the judge’s sentencing decision: “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but I know that billions of animals have never known freedom for even a moment of their lives”…
The case was the latest in an effort by DxE going back about a decade to target Sonoma County animal agriculture operations with protests to promote the group’s mission to end the raising of animals for food. On Tuesday, another Sonoma County judge ordered DxE co-founder Wayne Hsiung to pay nearly $200,000 in restitution to two Petaluma farms for similar incursions involving stolen birds and demonstrations, including activists chaining themselves to ranch equipment and structures. More than 130 DxE activists have been arrested in the county since 2018. JULIE JOHNSON
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