DxE Operator Sentenced, Fined in California Poultry Theft

Prominent animal-rights activist Zoe Rosenberg was sentenced this week to serve 90 days in jail for stealing four chickens from a Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse in Sonoma County, California. Rosenberg, who did not deny taking the animals, was one of multiple Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) activists involved in the incursion at the facility in 2023 and led to misdemeanor charges.

In a post on social media, Rosenberg, 23, said she also has to pay over $102,000 in restitution, spend two years on supervised probation, maintain employment or remain enrolled as a student, stay away from Perdue facilities in Sonoma County, and have no contact with her collaborators in the crime.

She was ordered to report to jail on Dec. 10.

Rosenberg has long served as a major figurehead of DxE, including aggressively lambasting National FFA and 4-H programs. She works closely with Wayne Hsiung, DxE’s co-founder, who also was sentenced to 90 days in Sonoma County jail his extreme antics on poultry farms.

Rosenberg claims the birds were sick and neglected, and activists even named the birds — Poppy, Ivy, Aster, and Azalea — and placed them in an animal sanctuary.

The group has a particularly rocky history with Petaluma Poultry and its parent company, Perdue Foods. Earlier this year, Petaluma took legal steps to protect the privacy and safety of an associate and his family following what the company said was repeated harassment and privacy violations by DxE. That associate in question was a material witness against Rosenberg.

Rosenberg said she has Type I diabetes and expressed concern about her living conditions while jailed.

“For the first 30 days of my jail sentence, the judge has barred me from being allowed to even apply for alternative detention, despite my complex health issues that make even a few days in jail incredibly dangerous,” she said on Facebook. “It is also important to note that my application for alternative detention could be denied for those latter 60 days.”

While she will serve the 90 days, The Associated Press reported that the county’s district attorney’s office said 60 of those may involve jail alternates, such as house arrest.

Rosenberg has requested a pardon from Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsome.