photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB
Zoe Rosenberg speaks outside the Sonoma County courthouse in advance of her 
sentencing on 3 December 2025.

Zoe Rosenberg, a prominent animal rights activist has been sentenced to a total of 90 days in jail for her role in a 2023 protest at Petaluma Poultry.

The Sonoma County courtroom was packed full of Rosenberg's supporters, but the response was muted as the judge detailed the jail sentence.

Rosenberg has been ordered to serve 30 days at Sonoma County's Main Adult Detention Facility, plus 60 days which can be served via a jail alternative.

She was also ordered to spend two years on probation.

Rosenberg's attorney, Chris Carraway, spoke to supporters and the media following the sentence.

"I'm disappointed that she has to spend the 30 days in jail for an act of conscience, for an act of compassion," Carraway said.

Rosenberg is with the Berkeley-based activism group Direct Action Everywhere.

She was convicted in October for felony conspiracy and misdemeanor trespass at the Petaluma Poultry processing plant on Lakeville Highway.

Rosenberg consistently claims she was convicted for rescuing four chickens from a truck outside the local processing plant, a claim she repeated outside the courthouse minutes before the sentencing.

"They're going to say that I apparently caused the slaughterhouse to delay their production, somehow costing Purdue over a hundred thousand dollars in losses by rescuing four...birds from their slaughterhouse," Rosenberg said.

But the judge reiterated to Rosenberg in court that she was charged and convicted for planning and carrying out the trespass at Petaluma Poultry, not for taking the four chickens.

In his ruling the judge said he was sympathetic to Rosenberg's medical issues with type 1 diabetes, and gastroparesis, which requires her to use a continuous glucose monitor and feeding tube, but noted Rosenberg has offered no apologies or expressed remorse for her actions.

Rosenberg was also ordered to pay $102,000 in restitution to Petaluma Poultry.

That's nearly equivalent to the damages Petaluma Poultry claims were caused due to the disruption from her actions. Rosenberg says she will appeal that order and the conviction.

Perdue Foods, owner of Petaluma Poultry, took legal action against Rosenberg's supporters with the group Direct Action Everywhere, over their repeated targeted confrontations of a Petaluma Poultry executive at his private residence.

Poultry farms in Sonoma County have been consistent targets for Direct Action Everywhere's disruptive protests and sophisticated infiltrations.

Poultry farm advocates have expressed concern that trespass by Direct Action Everywhere protestors at commercial facilities was a potential cause for highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks in years past. Those concerns were again raised in court.

Rosenberg was granted a 1 week delay on the start of her sentence, to prepare for her medical needs in jail, and was ordered to turn herself in for custody on December 10th.