{"id":22826,"date":"2025-10-30T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=22826"},"modified":"2025-10-30T11:01:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T10:01:18","slug":"rescue-is-a-crime-california-activist-convicted-for-saving-sick-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/30\/rescue-is-a-crime-california-activist-convicted-for-saving-sick-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Rescue Is a Crime: California Activist Convicted for Saving Sick Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SAN FRANCISCO (FN) \u2014 A California animal rights activist who removed four chickens from a Northern California poultry processing plant was convicted Wednesday of felony conspiracy and multiple misdemeanors, following a seven-week trial in Sonoma County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zoe Rosenberg, 23, was found guilty on all counts by a Santa Rosa jury, including felony conspiracy, two misdemeanor counts of trespassing, and one misdemeanor count of tampering with a vehicle. The charges stem from her actions at Petaluma Poultry, a subsidiary of Perdue Farms, one of the nation\u2019s largest poultry suppliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosenberg, affiliated with the Berkeley-based group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), admitted to taking the chickens but argued she was rescuing them from inhumane conditions. \u201cI will not apologize for taking sick, neglected animals to get medical care,\u201d Rosenberg said after the verdict. \u201cPoppy, Ivy, Aster, and Azalea are alive today. For that, I will never be sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The chickens were later placed in an animal sanctuary, according to DxE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosenberg, wearing an ankle monitor, addressed supporters outside the courthouse, many holding signs reading \u201cProsecute Petaluma Poultry\u201d and \u201cRight to Rescue.\u201d She said she planned to report alleged animal cruelty at the facility to the Sonoma County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her attorney, Chris Carraway, criticized the prosecution, saying the county spent significant resources \u201cto protect a multi-billion-dollar corporation from the rescue of four chickens worth less than 25 Dollars.\u201d He said he intends to appeal the verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez defended the prosecution, stating, \u201cWhile we respect everyone\u2019s right to free expression, it is unlawful to trespass, disrupt legitimate businesses, and endanger workers and animals in pursuit of a political or social agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petaluma Poultry denied allegations of mistreatment and described DxE as an extremist group. \u201cPersonal beliefs don\u2019t justify breaking the law,\u201d said Herb Frerichs, general counsel for the company. \u201cDxE members admitted to planning and carrying out illegal acts \u2014 including break-ins, theft of private data, and stealing livestock \u2014 under the guise of activism and to gain publicity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the trial, Rosenberg testified that she disguised herself as a Petaluma Poultry employee using a fake badge and earpiece, and later posted a video of the incident on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosenberg\u2019s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 3. She faces a maximum sentence of four and a half years in jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The co-founder of DxE was convicted in a separate case two years ago for participating in similar factory farm protests in Petaluma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO (FN) \u2014 A California animal rights activist who removed four chickens from a Northern California poultry processing plant was convicted Wednesday of felony conspiracy and multiple misdemeanors, following a seven-week trial in Sonoma County. Zoe Rosenberg, 23, was found guilty on all counts by a Santa Rosa jury, including felony conspiracy, two misdemeanor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Californias-Activist-Jury.jpeg?fit=638%2C414&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22826"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22834,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22826\/revisions\/22834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}