A Woman Took Chickens That Were Going to Die in a Factory Farm. Did It Constitute a Rescue or a Criminal Act?
During a Monday afternoon in September's final days, Zoe Rosenberg exited a courtroom in the city of Santa Rosa. Flanked by her lawyers, she moved briskly through the courthouse corridors, past more than 100 potential jurors.
Fixed on her formal coat was a miniature poultry pin, shining on her collar.
It was one of the last days of choosing the jury for the case against Rosenberg. She confronted two lesser charges for trespassing and one count of vehicle interference, as well as a felony conspiracy indictment. If the verdict goes against her, she could face up to over four years in jail.
It’s not a whodunit … It’s a whydunit.
The central events of the case were not in dispute. Shortly after midnight on a June night in 2023, Rosenberg and several other members of the group DxE drove to a slaughterhouse facility, a processing center about 40 miles north of San Francisco. Posing as employees, they encountered a truck filled with thousands of live chickens packed into crates. They removed four chickens, put them in containers and left the scene.
These facts were not in dispute because the group members had later published video footage of their actions. “This isn't about the perpetrator,” her attorney, Carraway, frequently remarks. “It's about the motivation.”
Following their exit, the group inspected the poultry – whom they named the rescued birds - more thoroughly. Rosenberg says they were soiled with excrement and showing injuries and sores.
Her attorney clarified in the courtroom that Zoe's purpose was not to take unlawfully but to provide assistance. The panel would be asked to determine, essentially, where empathy ends before it becomes a crime.
As the child of an animal doctor, She spent her childhood on a sizable property in San Luis Obispo county, CA, living with cats, dogs, goats, guinea pigs and rabbits.
When she was nine, the household acquired poultry at home. She remembers clearly their names readily: Eddie, Chirp, Olive, Herki, Red, Daisy and Popcorn. Until then, Zoe believed the widespread belief that chickens were not too bright, but observing them closely changed her views. “It became clear they have distinct characters and that their minds are sharp, and that their lives are really, really valuable.”
Two years later, Zoe viewed an digital recording of rescuers infiltrating a big egg farm in Australia and rescuing hens. She had never before witnessed a factory farm, and she was shocked by the conditions: numerous poultry confined in enclosures. This also introduced her to the notion of publicized rescues, the description used by rescuers to explain actions in which they enter agricultural facilities or scientific centers and remove animals they deem to be in distress. They disclose their activities, often posting footage of what they do.
Once she saw it, Zoe instantly realized that this was her calling, and she emailed the director of the group behind it. (“She had no idea I was 11,” Rosenberg recalled.) A year later, in the mid-2010s, she founded the local branch of the organization, a emerging animal rights organization.
Throughout time, activist collectives have gained a reputation for using aggressive methods – like Peta’s campaign comparing meat consumption to the Holocaust or dramatic acts with simulated gore. The reasoning is straightforward: a jolt is needed to awaken public awareness about animal suffering. But the result is often the opposite: alienating the public. Where meat consumption is standard, many see such protests as a individual insult – and feel judged, not persuaded.
The group continues this approach; they have staged protests outside a butcher shop in the city and interrupted a meal at the popular eatery Chez Panisse.
However, their hallmark action has been publicized rescues. According to the group, a benefit of this method is that it goes beyond raising awareness to an unfairness – it tries, modestly, to address it. It aims at the industry rather than implicating individual consumers, and provides a view into the secret realm of livestock farming.
“Our legal battles are kind of a vehicle to pose the question to a randomly selected jury of our community members, and to the public via news outlets,” said Cassie King, DxE’s communications lead. “Should it be illegal, or is it justified, to rescue an animal who’s dying in a commercial operation?”
Already, DxE activists note, there are statutes allowing intervention in California and multiple jurisdictions granting people criminal and civil protection if they access a vehicle to remove an endangered animal. The claim is that the identical logic should extend to all creatures in need.
Over the past decade, per the group, participants have been involved in dozens of rescues. In recent times, rescuers have removed two piglets from a Utah factory farm; several hens from a Foster Farms truck near a processing plant in California's Merced; and pets from a lab and breeding center in WI. Following the rescue, the rescuers ensure treatment and place them in new homes.
A farmer manages the agricultural business with his brother in the area. His family has owned the farm for 113 years, he explained. It is an egg-laying operation with a large flock, located in various coops. The operation, which is sustainable through renewables, also converts waste into compost.
During May of 2018, DxE activists staged a large-scale operation on the property. A large group appeared to demonstrate. Some of them invaded the farm and {broke into a chicken house|accessed a poultry building|entered a coop
