DxE investigator and animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg is on trial in Sonoma County, California. She is facing years in jail for rescuing four sick and injured chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse. All media requests to record the trial have been denied, but you can follow along through these Court Watch summaries, on our Perdue Rescue Trial X account, on our Instagram, and on UnchainedTV. Check back regularly for new updates. Want to take action? Sign the petition at RightToRescue.com and share the news with your friends and family.

Monday, October 13th

The defense began their case today, calling their first witness: Carla Cabral. Cabral is a trained vet tech who took care of the birds Rosenberg rescued for one month after their rescue. She testified about her background and vet tech experience and was qualified as an expert in animal caretaking. 

Cabral also testified about her observations of the four birds Rosenberg rescued, Poppy, Ivy, Aster, Azalea, and what she did to treat them. They had diarrhea, wounds and scratches, difficulty walking, and one had respiratory difficulties. She consulted with veterinarians and worked with veterinarians to take fecal, blood, mouth and throat swabs, administered antibiotics and pain medications as prescribed, and bandaged their feet. A few photographs and videos of the rescued birds getting care were shown to the jury. 

There was a lengthy discussion outside the presence of the jury before Cabral’s cross-examination. Shortly before court began today, DA Hobson disclosed to the defense that he was going to submit over a dozen social media posts made by Cabral as impeachment evidence - these posts include photos of Cabral protesting and doing civil disobedience, as well as statements she made or reshared about veganism. The defense objected vigorously, stating that they had only just received these posts and had no time to review and that the posts would be extremely prejudicial and repetitive, but Judge Gnoss ruled that the majority of them could be introduced and shown to the jury. He stated that the defense put Cabral on the stand as an expert and should expect that the prosecution would cross her on bias, interest, and motive. 

Over an hour later, Cabral re-took the stand and Hobson began his cross-examination. After a few basic questions, he asked whether any of the rescued birds had fevers and Cabral testified they did not. He asked her whether being transported in a bucket could cause stress and whether stress could cause diarrhea, implying that this was caused by the rescue. He confirmed she was not a vet and never went to vet school. Hobson then began asking Cabral a series of questions about DxE and animal rights - how long she was a member, if she was vegan, whether she has a vegan tattoo, what she believes about animal agriculture. He asked whether she was friends with Rosenberg, with Deerbrook, with Rocky Chau (another witness). He then began showing the series of social media posts and pictures, including a photo of Cabral gluing her hand in the State Capitol during an Agriculture Committee hearing. 

Cabral is excused for the day but Hobson is not done with his cross-examination. Cabral will return at 11am tomorrow to speak with court appointed counsel regarding her 5th Amendment rights, since Hobson intends to cross-examine her on her participation in protests and open rescues.  

Tuesday, October 14th

Court began this morning outside the presence of the jury. The issue was whether Cabral and Chau would be invoking their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination since the prosecution intends to cross-examine them on other unrelated events. The prosecution made it clear they would be asking for Cabral’s entire testimony to be stricken if she pleads the 5th. Cabral met with a court-appointed attorney and then took the stand to indicate she would not be pleading the 5th, while Chau took the stand and indicated he would be. Chau was therefore excused as a witness and will not be testifying. 

The jury arrived after lunch and Cabral re-took the stand. Hobson resumed his cross-examination. He asked her who else was at the rental house where she was caring for the birds, whether she was familiar with the Animal Liberation Conference and that open rescues often occur during the conference, and whether she knows Wayne Hsiung. He asked her whether Dr. Heath, a veterinarian, physically examined the birds (she did) and if Cabral is friends with her, whether she’s vegan, and whether she supports the Animal Bill of Rights.

Hobson then moved on to asking Cabral about open rescue and whether she has ever engaged in open rescue, which she has. He published a social media post to the jury showing Cabral holding up a peace sign with four other activists, with the caption indicating that they had just rescued two sick goals from a Whole Foods-supplying farm. He asked Cabral whether some of the other people in the photo were in the audience today, but this was objected to by Carraway and sustained. He then began asking Cabral about DxE’s campaign asking Trader Joe’s to cut ties with Petaluma Poultry and whether she participated in protests at Trader Joe’s, including a protest at the Trader Joe’s HQ in Monrovia where she superglued her hand to the front desk. Cabral confirmed she had and a photo was published to the jury. After one last social media post being displayed to the jury, Hobson indicated he was done with his cross-examination. 

Carraway then had a chance to ‘re-direct’ Cabral. He asked how her strong feelings about animal agriculture impact how she cares for animals, and she said it makes her want to ensure she is doing everything right and doing everything she can to make sure the animals are healthy and happy. Carraway asked a few clarifying questions about the birds’ health and the wound on Poppy’s toe. He asked her why she rescued the goats and cared for the birds Rosenberg rescued - and she said it was because they were suffering. Hobson re-crossed Cabral with more questions about whether she thinks it’s ‘perfectly legal to go into a business and take something out’ but Carraway objected and the judge sustained. With that, Hobson was done. 

The jury was excused and there was a brief discussion about what aspects of the birds’ medical records would be redacted before being shown to the jury. Judge Gnoss ruled that any reference to the number of birds would be redacted (since more than 4 birds were rescued that night). Trial will resume Thursday at 11am. 

Wednesday, October 15th

Judge Gnoss does not hold trial court on Wednesdays so we're off today.

Thursday, October 16th

Court today began with the defense calling their next witness: Raven Deerbrook. Deerbrook is an undercover investigator who is Rosenberg’s alleged co-conspirator. She was also charged for this investigation and rescue, and resolved her case by taking a plea agreement. She testified about her investigation into Petaluma Poultry, including planting hidden cameras on the slaughter line, reviewing documents in the office, and taking photos and videos of dead and condemned birds. She testified that her investigation led her to believe that animal cruelty was happening at the facility, specifically birds not being slaughtered ‘correctly’ and being boiled alive. She testified that she entered without Rosenberg on April 23rd and 30th and June 11th, and with her on May 21st and June 13th. She testified that she was the one who put GPS trackers on the truck, reviewed the computer for records, and cut the fence with boltcutters, and that she was not acting under the direction of anyone else.

DA Hobson cross-examined Deerbrook for the rest of the afternoon. He pressed on her lack of formal education and training to do investigations and how she has never been employed by an animal agriculture facility, USDA, CDFA, etc… He pressed her on who she was with during her visits, her membership with DxE, and her participation in protests, and her friendship with the veterinarians who wrote the opinions on the condition of the birds. Hobson focused extensively on a supposed bottle of denaturant placed by the bin of condemned birds that Deerbrook did not photograph or look into. By 4:45pm, Hobson was not finished. Deerbrook will return tomorrow to continue her testimony at 11am. 

Friday, October 17th

Court began today outside the presence of the jury. The prosecution wanted to question Deerbrook about the investigation manual and the defense objected, so Judge Gnoss held an impromptu 402 hearing with Deerbrook where Hobson questioned her about her knowledge of the manual. She made clear she hadn’t read it, and Judge Gnoss ruled Hobson would not be allowed to question her about it, but could ask her about investigatory tactics. Deerbrook then retook the stand in the presence of the jury and Hobson continued his cross-examination. Like yesterday, Hobson pressed her on her lack of knowledge around the denaturant and the fact that a hidden camera was not placed by the scalder. He asked her about burner phones, Signal and “security culture.” The defense did not ask any questions on re-direct and Deerbrook was excused right after lunch.

The defense then called their next witness: the defendant, Zoe Rosenberg. She discussed her experiences growing up with chickens and what led her to animal rights activism, founding a sanctuary, and caring for thousands of chickens over the years along with her mother, who is a veterinarian. She discussed her belief in animal rights, and that factory farms and slaughterhouses should not exist. 

She testified that she has worked with law enforcement to rescue animals from cockfighting rings and hoarding situations. She also discussed her animal rights activism, including her membership in Direct Action Everywhere, doing speaking events, social media, leading trainings, and investigating factory farms. She openly admitted to rescuing four birds from the Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse on June 13, 2023, whom she named Poppy, Ivy, Aster, and Azalea, and taking them to receive care. She stated she believed Petaluma Poultry was criminally abusing animals and she believed her actions were lawful, in part due to a legal opinion she received from a former federal prosecutor. She testified about seeing video from the slaughterhouse, and walked the jurors through the footage, as well as the footage of her rescuing the chickens. 

Rosenberg testified for about two hours and then Hobson began his cross-examination. He asked her about her speaking tour and posting on social media about the case, as well as her comparing the animal rights movement to other social justice movements. He pressed her on not knowing what denaturant is despite her experience with chickens and investigating factory farms, and her knowledge of Wayne Hsiung’s trial (where she testified) and how activists had been arrested at past actions in Sonoma County. Hobson did not finish and will resume his cross-examination on Monday afternoon.