A California Woman's Quest to 'Rescue' Chickens Takes a Dark Turn as She Faces Trespassing Conviction.
Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old activist from the San Francisco Bay Area, has been found guilty of trespassing and conspiracy after taking four chickens from a processing plant in northern California. Rosenberg claimed she was acting out of compassion for the birds, but the prosecution argued that her actions were a blatant disregard for the law.
According to eyewitnesses, Rosenberg and several members of Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), an animal rights group she belongs to, drove to Petaluma Poultry under the guise of being workers. At midnight on June 13th last year, they encountered a truck filled with thousands of live chickens packed into crates. Disguised as workers, they removed four chickens and placed them in buckets before driving away.
The footage obtained by DxE has sparked controversy, with many arguing that Rosenberg's actions were nothing short of heroic. Her lawyers countered that the case wasn't about whether she took the chickens but why – and their arguments centered around the harsh treatment of factory farm animals. In a statement, Chris Carraway, Rosenberg's attorney, argued that Petaluma Poultry spent "hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars" to protect its interests over the welfare of just four birds worth less than $25.
Rosenberg now faces more than five years in prison for her conviction on two misdemeanor counts of trespassing, a misdemeanor count of tampering with a vehicle, and a felony conspiracy charge. If she loses her appeal, it would mark a significant blow to the animal rights movement in California.
Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old activist from the San Francisco Bay Area, has been found guilty of trespassing and conspiracy after taking four chickens from a processing plant in northern California. Rosenberg claimed she was acting out of compassion for the birds, but the prosecution argued that her actions were a blatant disregard for the law.
According to eyewitnesses, Rosenberg and several members of Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), an animal rights group she belongs to, drove to Petaluma Poultry under the guise of being workers. At midnight on June 13th last year, they encountered a truck filled with thousands of live chickens packed into crates. Disguised as workers, they removed four chickens and placed them in buckets before driving away.
The footage obtained by DxE has sparked controversy, with many arguing that Rosenberg's actions were nothing short of heroic. Her lawyers countered that the case wasn't about whether she took the chickens but why – and their arguments centered around the harsh treatment of factory farm animals. In a statement, Chris Carraway, Rosenberg's attorney, argued that Petaluma Poultry spent "hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars" to protect its interests over the welfare of just four birds worth less than $25.
Rosenberg now faces more than five years in prison for her conviction on two misdemeanor counts of trespassing, a misdemeanor count of tampering with a vehicle, and a felony conspiracy charge. If she loses her appeal, it would mark a significant blow to the animal rights movement in California.
this whole thing is just so messed up... i mean, what's more heroic than risking your freedom to save some chickens? Rosenberg was basically doing what she thought was right and got caught in the crossfire of an outdated system. 
factory farms are a huge issue and we should be supporting people like her who speak out against it.
We need more people like Rosenberg who are willing to take a stand and fight for what's right.
, can you believe this? Some chick (pun intended) steals 4 chickens from a processing plant just because they didn't want to get processed and now she's facing prison time for it 
. I mean, I get where she's coming from – all that suffering in those cages is awful – but come on, trespassing isn't the answer 
. And what's up with the animal rights group being so extra? They're basically glorifying her actions instead of criticizing them 
It's all just a big mess 
.
like what even is the definition of 'rescue' here? Rosenberg's intentions are good, no doubt about that, but at what cost? she's fighting for the welfare of chickens who are basically living hell in factory farms, but does that give her a free pass to break the law? 
It's time for us to rethink our priorities and values as a society.
I mean, what's next? Breaking into a butcher shop to "rescue" a few burgers because they were, like, gonna get eaten or something? 
Rosenberg's idea of "compassion" is cute, but trespassing and conspiring with a group isn't exactly the most elegant way to make her point. And I'm not buying the argument that factory farms are bad just because four chickens got away 
i think its so unfair, like, isnt it more important 2 save lives? 
the system is messed up, man... 
dxe did a good job exposin the truth about factory farms, but now zoe's payin the price 
.
.
the system is just so messed up right now...and whats worse is that she could be losin her appeal, it would set back the whole animal rights movement in cali by like, forever 
Zoe's actions were all about trying to make a point about those poor chickens 
and now she's facing some serious time behind bars 
direct action everywhere needs to rethink their methods, this ain't some cute viral video 
the whole world is watching zoey's trial now
. And those chickens could've gotten sick or hurt in the process 
. Zoey was all about being an activist, not breaking the law 
It's disgusting and we should be doing everything in our power to stop this kind of treatment from happening. And then this poor girl gets punished for trying to make a difference?! 