After Rosenberg’s sentencing, animal activists say Sonoma County remains at the center of yearslong fight

Four days before Sonoma County handed down its latest jail sentence in a yearslong fight over local poultry farms, animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere was already signaling it had no plans to retreat.

In a weekend post to X, co-founder Wayne Hsiung — who last month was ordered to pay $191,000 in restitution in a separate Sonoma County farm-incursion case — declared his probation officially over and warned that more activism was coming.

“If you didn’t like what you saw before,” he wrote, “just wait and see what we’ve got coming next.”

Hsiung did not respond to questions about what that meant. But among DxE members, the message landed as a statement of intent: despite a string of recent legal defeats, they say Sonoma County agriculture remains firmly in their sights.

Prosecutors and agricultural leaders insist the allegations driving DxE’s actions are unfounded and the incursions must stop.

“I think people in our county have just grown exhausted and nauseated by this performance,” said Mike Weber, co-owner of Sunrise Farms, where a 2018 protest helped lead to Hsiung’s conviction.

Their latest clash played out Wednesday, when a Sonoma County judge sentenced 21-year-old Zoe Rosenberg — a prominent member of DxE’s Bay Area chapter — to 30 days in jail and 60 days under jail alternatives for entering Petaluma Poultry, removing birds and coordinating actions with other activists June 13, 2023. DxE calls the operation a rescue born of animal cruelty concerns. A jury found she committed crimes tied to those incursions.

Rosenberg, who denied wrongdoing, was met outside court by supporters who said the sentencing only deepened their resolve.

“We’re always learning and we’re always continuing to take action,” said DxE organizer Cassie King.

A widening rift

DxE has repeatedly criticized the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office for what activists describe as a reluctance to investigate animal cruelty at local poultry facilities. Prosecutors say that’s inaccurate — that complaints must first be vetted by law enforcement agencies, and that the information DxE presents is often selective, unverified or misinterpreted.

District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said this week that Rosenberg’s brief jail time is unlikely to change the organization’s tactics.

“We do not believe that this sanction will deter the defendant or others in her organization from continuing the behavior that they have engaged in over the past seven years in this county,” Rodriguez said after sentencing. “Nevertheless, sentencing is the court’s prerogative. We do wish, however, to put others on notice that my office is committed to enforcing the law, and to preventing the obstruction of legitimate business operations. These incursions are clearly illegal and must stop.”

King countered that the fear of not acting for animals is greater than the fear of legal consequences.

“It is pretty scary how much this elected official and her office want to silence animal rights activists,” she said. “It is ironic that District Attorney Rodriguez thinks Zoe’s case shows no one is above the law when to me it shows quite clearly how Perdue is above the law in Sonoma County.”

How the conflict grew

Founded in 2013, Direct Action Everywhere describes itself as a nonviolent movement fighting animal cruelty, promoting veganism and pushing for an animal bill of rights. The group’s website lists chapters across the United States, Europe and South America. Financial filings analyzed by ProPublica show DxE reported $894,000 in revenue and $908,000 in expenses in 2023, with total assets valued at $272,000.

In Sonoma County, DxE’s profile — and backlash — surged beginning in 2018.

On May 29 of that year, about 500 activists converged on Sunrise Farms northwest of Petaluma and removed dozens of chickens. Another protest followed that September at McCoy’s Poultry Services, where activists took about 15 chickens. A third came in June 2019 at Reichardt Duck Farm west of Petaluma.

Dozens of arrests were made, but Hsiung was the only one to face a jury. He was convicted of felony conspiracy to commit trespass in the Sunrise Farms protest, though jurors could not reach a verdict on similar charges related to Reichardt.

Last month, Judge Laura Passaglia ordered him to pay $191,000 to Sunrise Farms and Weber Family Farms. Weber said the financial toll extended far beyond one day’s shutdown — the farms also spent heavily on new security measures.

“We had to harden everything and hire consultants to evaluate our security,” Weber said.

Prosecutors have said DxE’s actions across those cases cost affected farms roughly $680,000 in economic losses from security upgrades, property damage and business disruptions.

DxE members have seen mixed results in courts elsewhere. In 2022, two activists were acquitted of burglary and theft charges after removing piglets from a Utah farm. In 2023, two others were found not guilty of misdemeanor theft after taking chickens from a Foster Farms facility in Merced County.

But in Sonoma County, the group has faced mounting legal and civil pressure, especially since Rosenberg was arrested outside the courthouse following Hsiung’s sentencing in 2023. In the last two years, activists have protested outside Trader Joe’s stores and at the homes of Rodriguez and at least two Perdue officials. Those officials — and Trader Joe’s — have pursued injunctions to keep protests away from their properties.

The broader agriculture community, too, has spent heavily in response. Nearly $1.5 million went toward campaigning against a 2024 DxE-backed ballot measure that sought to restrict large-scale poultry and livestock operations. Voters overwhelmingly rejected it.

One year later, Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dayna Ghirardelli said, the verdict in Rosenberg’s case signaled the county’s continued rejection of “extreme, reckless actions.”

“It is my hope the outcome of this case ushers in a new era of peace and respect for divergent opinions,” she said, “with justice for those who brush civility and the rule of law aside.”

Inside Rosenberg’s trial

Throughout Rosenberg’s trial, prosecutors emphasized that the case was not about her beliefs but about what they described as a coordinated plan to break into a heavily regulated, biosecure processing facility and shut it down.

They said Rosenberg entered Petaluma Poultry overnight wearing disguises and removed four birds while other teams triggered alarms, opened gates and stopped a company truck offsite. Rosenberg admitted taking the birds — later named Poppy, Ivy, Aster and Azalea — but insisted it was a rescue, not theft.

Her attorneys argued she acted out of moral duty, citing DxE video later posted online. Prosecutors countered that no footage introduced at trial showed injured birds and that all defense witnesses were linked to DxE and shared its views on veganism. They also disputed Rosenberg’s claims that birds had been boiled alive or abandoned in a “red pile,” saying the coloration was caused by a USDA-regulated denaturant used to mark inedible material.

The timing of the operation, prosecutors said, aligned with DxE’s annual liberation conference — and Rosenberg’s birthday.

Petaluma Poultry employees testified the entry forced a shutdown and staff rescheduling that cost the company more than $100,000.

“As the jury’s quick verdict demonstrated, their claims without exception were built on selective omissions, misunderstandings, and a willingness to ignore clear facts that cut against their narrative,” Rodriguez said. ”Simply stated, breaking into a heavily regulated, biosecure food processing facility that supplies food to consumers in this county and across the country is dangerous and illegal.”

During Wednesday’s sentencing, Judge Kenneth Gnoss said Rosenberg could be held financially responsible for Petaluma Poultry’s losses. A Perdue Farms attorney said any restitution collected will be donated to nonprofit groups fighting food insecurity.

On Friday, Rosenberg told The Press Democrat she “does not want to give any money to Perdue that would be used to further harm animals.” As a college student, she said, she does not have the means to pay restitution, but if she did she would prefer to donate directly to the food organizations Perdue named.

In court, Rosenberg said she regretted only that she did not save more chickens. Gnoss criticized her for showing no remorse for the criminal conduct but imposed a lighter sentence than the six-month term prosecutors sought.

After the hearing, Rosenberg said she “would not give up,” despite the prospect of jail time, and that she intends to keep fighting until animals no longer have to endure pain.