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Graduating with an Ankle Monitor

May 13, 2025

The Daily Californian

When I walk across the stage to graduate from UC Berkeley this month, an ankle monitor will track my every step. I am facing up to five and a half years in prison for rescuing four criminally abused chickens, Poppy, Ivy, Aster and Azalea, from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse. Throughout my four years of university, I’ve lived a double life. There have been many evenings where I have rushed home from school to gear up and prepare for a long, sleepless night of investigating factory farms and slaughterhouses.

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Graduating with an Ankle Monitor

May 13, 2025

The Daily Californian

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Activists Disrupt Trader Joe's in Berkeley, Oakland, SF, Part of Nationwide Weekend of Action

May 4, 2025

Direct Action Everywhere activists protest dozens of Trader Joe’s stores across the country asking the retailer to cut ties with Perdue’s California subsidiary, Petaluma Poultry, given documented animal abuse

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PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Activists Disrupt Trader Joe's in Berkeley, Oakland, SF, Part of Nationwide Weekend of Action

May 4, 2025

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Billboard Highlighting Animal Rights Activist’s Sonoma County Criminal Case Goes Up in Petaluma

May 2, 2025

Press Democrat

The billboard, which went up in April along southbound Highway 101 near the East Washington Street exit in Petaluma, features an illustration of Zoe Rosenberg holding a chicken accompanied by the text: “Should she go to prison for rescuing a chicken?”

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Billboard Highlighting Animal Rights Activist’s Sonoma County Criminal Case Goes Up in Petaluma

May 2, 2025

Press Democrat

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Bay Area Animal Rights Activist Faces Up to 5 1/2 Years in Prison for Chicken Rescue

May 2, 2025

KCRA 3

In one video shared by Direct Action Everywhere, Rosenberg is seen crouching on dirt while holding a chicken with another chicken lying in front of her. It is not the first time Rosenberg has participated in what she and Berkeley-based organization Direct Action Everywhere call an "open rescue." Before taking the chickens, Direct Action Everywhere investigated Petaluma Poultry, and Rosenberg said she tried to report animal abuse to Sonoma County law enforcement.

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Bay Area Animal Rights Activist Faces Up to 5 1/2 Years in Prison for Chicken Rescue

May 2, 2025

KCRA 3

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TOP PRESS

This California Student Could Go to Prison for Taking Four Chickens. Was It a Crime or a ‘Rescue’?

May 1, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

Just four months after she graduates on May 17 with a bachelor’s degree in social movement strategy, the straight-A student will stand trial in a Sonoma County courtroom for her June 2023 incursion into Petaluma Poultry, a processing facility owned by agribusiness giant Perdue Farms. If convicted for taking four chickens Perdue valued at around $24, she faces up to 5½ years in prison.

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TOP PRESS

This California Student Could Go to Prison for Taking Four Chickens. Was It a Crime or a ‘Rescue’?

May 1, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

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PRESS

Going to Prison for Rescuing Hens?!? Animal Activism on Trial with Zoe Rosenberg

April 18, 2025

Our Hen House

Despite facing harsh pretrial conditions, including an ankle monitor and travel restrictions, Zoe remains steadfast in her commitment to the power of open rescue and animal rights activism.

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PRESS

Going to Prison for Rescuing Hens?!? Animal Activism on Trial with Zoe Rosenberg

April 18, 2025

Our Hen House

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Resistance in 2025

April 17, 2025

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Resistance in 2025

April 17, 2025

The resistance of 2025 might not look like the resistance of 2017. That’s okay. In fact, sociologist Doug McAdam has demonstrated that tactical innovation was critical for the continued success of the civil rights movement. As organizers introduced new tactics, movement activity (‘insurgency’) rose dramatically.

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BLOG

Perdue Just Sued DxE in an Attempt to Silence Free Speech

April 5, 2025

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BLOG

Perdue Just Sued DxE in an Attempt to Silence Free Speech

April 5, 2025

Perdue's legal complaint is riddled with false accusations meant to malign nonviolent activists and keep the attention off its abuse of animals.

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PRESS

Perdue Foods Files Court Action to Block DxE Animal Rights Activists from Protesting at Poultry Exec’s Home

April 4, 2025

Press Democrat

Agribusiness giant Perdue Foods and a director of operations at one of the company’s brands, Petaluma Poultry, have filed an injunction against the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere seeking to protect the executive from what they allege is “a campaign of terror.”

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PRESS

Perdue Foods Files Court Action to Block DxE Animal Rights Activists from Protesting at Poultry Exec’s Home

April 4, 2025

Press Democrat

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Our Top Press Hits

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She Said She Was Rescuing Chickens. A Jury Convicted Her of Conspiracy.

October 29, 2025

The New York Times

The four chickens she took with her — whom she named Poppy, Ivy, Aster and Azalea — are alive at a sanctuary for rescued farm animals, she said. “I will not apologize for taking sick, neglected animals to get medical care,” Ms. Rosenberg said in a statement. “When we see cruelty and violence, we can choose to ignore it or to intervene and try to make the world a better place.”

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TOP PRESS

UC Berkeley Animal Rights Activist Found Guilty in ‘Chicken Rescue’ Trial

October 29, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

But even if the appellate court doesn’t reverse Rosenberg’s conviction, she likely won’t regret having risked prison time to force a trial. Her trial, by some measures, was still a success. Several national publications — including The New York Times and the Associated Press — covered it, raising awareness of DxE’s goal to eradicate America’s factory-farming industry by 2040.

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TOP PRESS

California Woman on Trial for Taking Chickens from Perdue Farms' Plant Says She Was Rescuing Them

October 28, 2025

The Associated Press

A California animal rights activist on trial for taking four chickens from one of Perdue Farms’ major poultry plants said Tuesday that she was rescuing Poppy, Ivy, Aster, and Azalea from abuse while prosecutors say she broke the law.

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She Took Chickens from a Slaughterhouse. Was It a Rescue or a Crime?

October 24, 2025

The Guardian

I asked Rosenberg what outcome she was hoping for. “My ideal outcome is honestly just whatever is best for the animals,” she said. “An acquittal wouldn’t set an actual legal precedent, but it would set a social precedent, to some extent, and send an important message.”

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TOP PRESS

UC Berkeley Activist Testifies She Saved Sick Birds, Not Stole Them, in Chicken Rescue Trial

October 17, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

Before a jury in a Sonoma County courthouse, Rosenberg testified that she believed at the time that her actions, often called “open rescue,” were “lawfully justified” to prevent what she considered “criminal animal abuse” by Petaluma Poultry, a Sonoma-based operation owned by Perdue Farms, a major poultry supplier nationwide.

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TOP PRESS

Berkeley Grad’s Chicken ‘Rescue’ Trial Begins in Sonoma County with Question of Intent vs. Crime

October 6, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

Though Rosenberg is technically the one on trial, they plan to force a deep review of the often-unsavory practices occurring at meat-processing facilities across the country.

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TOP PRESS

How the FBI and Big Ag Started Treating Animal Rights Activists as Bioterrorists

June 2, 2025

The Intercept

“Animal rights and environmental groups have committed more acts of terrorism than Al Qaeda,” warned an FBI agent who met with Big Ag groups.

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TOP PRESS

This California Student Could Go to Prison for Taking Four Chickens. Was It a Crime or a ‘Rescue’?

May 1, 2025

San Francisco Chronicle

Just four months after she graduates on May 17 with a bachelor’s degree in social movement strategy, the straight-A student will stand trial in a Sonoma County courtroom for her June 2023 incursion into Petaluma Poultry, a processing facility owned by agribusiness giant Perdue Farms. If convicted for taking four chickens Perdue valued at around $24, she faces up to 5½ years in prison.

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TOP PRESS

These California and Colorado Ballot Measures Are Terrifying the Meat Industry

October 10, 2024

Vox

In principle, there’s a lot of sense in capping the size of factory farms. Measure J’s proponents are betting that progressive Sonoma County, better known for its tasting rooms than its slaughterhouses, can push California — and the nation — in that direction.

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DxE's Blog

BLOG

Activists Arrested After Burying Piglets At CEO’s Mansion Following Gruesome “Pandemic Depopulation” Exposé At Iowa’s Leading Pork Producer

June 11, 2020

Investigators say “ventilation shutdown” is criminal livestock neglect as pigs are “roasted alive”

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BLOG

SF Board Of Supervisors Votes To Support Factory Farm Whistleblowers Facing Prison Time

June 9, 2020

Bay Area residents face criminal charges after rescuing dying animals from Sonoma County factory farms

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BLOG

What Business Insider Is Getting Wrong About DxE (And Me)

May 12, 2020

An Unfiltered Q&A With A Publication That’s Planning An “Exposé” Of DxE

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BLOG

Saul Elbein, Business Insider, And The Smearing Of Animal Rights Activists

May 8, 2020

How money and drugs corrupted the story of a pig farmer who was prosecuted for saving his pigs.

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BLOG

Coordinated Nationwide Protests Against Smithfield Follow Outbreaks, Exposés And Prosecutions

April 18, 2020

Protesters of Smithfield slaughterhouses and vendors say it undermines the well-being of employees, animals, whistleblowers and the public

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BLOG

Traditions Can Change - Even Religious Traditions

April 16, 2020

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BLOG

Following Bernie Sanders campaign’s disavowal, charges against topless anti-dairy protesters dropped

March 29, 2020

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BLOG

Animal Rights Activists Protest at CA State Capitol to “Cancel Animal Ag”

March 24, 2020

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BLOG

Saul Elbein, Business Insider, and the Smearing of Animal Rights Activists

March 24, 2020

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Our Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE

Animal Rights Protestors at SF City Hall Demand City Divest from Animal Agriculture, Citing Pandemic Disease Risk

July 3, 2020

Activists say proposal for partial divestment doesn’t go far enough

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PRESS RELEASE

Facing Prosecution, Animal Rights Group Seeks Court Order on Reyes' Funding Sources

June 23, 2020

Factory farm investigator alleges improper connections between Smithfield Inc. and Utah Attorney General

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PRESS RELEASE

“Roasting Pigs Alive” Exposé, Protest Campaign Culminates in Major Pork Supplier Ending Controversial “Ventilation Shutdown” Practice

June 5, 2020

Twelve activists now face charges, including felonies, as campaign seeks industry-wide ban

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PRESS RELEASE

Coordinated Nationwide Protests Against Smithfield Follow Outbreaks, Exposés and Prosecutions

April 15, 2020

Protesters of Smithfield slaughterhouses and vendors say it undermines the well-being of employees, animals, whistleblowers and the public

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PRESS RELEASE

Anti-Dairy Activist Arrested Following Latest Protest at Biden Event

March 5, 2020

Organizers now planning major demonstrations with 1000+ #LetDairyDie activists, calling on supporters nationwide to join

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