SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — Jurors on Wednesday found animal activist Zoe Rosenberg guilty of trespassing and conspiracy for taking four chickens from a Northern California processing plant, said a spokesperson for a group representing her.
Rosenberg, 23, did not deny taking the animals but said she was rescuing them from a cruel situation. She faces more than five years in prison. Rosenberg and her attorneys had said they would appeal if she was found guilty, said Lauren Gazzola, spokesperson for Animal Activist Legal Defense Project.
“Sonoma County spent over six weeks and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to protect a multi-billion-dollar corporation from the rescue of four chickens worth less than $25,” Chris Carraway, Rosenberg’s attorney, said in a statement.
Rosenberg, an activist with Direct Action Everywhere, removed the chickens from Petaluma Poultry in 2023. The company supplies chickens to Perdue Farms, one of the country’s largest poultry providers for major grocery chains.
Her attorneys argued the case wasn’t about whether she took the chickens — her organization filmed and released footage — but why she did it. Prosecutors, meanwhile, said she engaged in illegal behavior regardless of her motivation.
She was on trial for two misdemeanor counts of trespassing, a misdemeanor count of tampering with a vehicle and a felony conspiracy charge.
The trial unfolded in Sonoma County, where agriculture is a major industry. The co-founder of Direct Action Everywhere was convicted two years ago for his role in factory farm protests in Petaluma.
