Joaquin Phoenix Urges Charges In Petaluma Poultry Cruelty Case In Support Of Zoe Rosenberg

Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix is calling on the Sonoma County District Attorney to take action and prosecute animal cruelty at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse, following repeated reports of documented animal cruelty at the company’s factory farms and slaughter facility.

“Criminalizing people for rescuing suffering animals is a moral failure. Compassion is not a crime,” said Joaquin Phoenix, following the high-profile conviction of animal advocate Zoe Rosenberg last month for her rescue of four suffering chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse. “When individuals step in to save a life because the system has looked the other way, they should be supported—not prosecuted. We have to decide who we are as a society: one that protects the vulnerable, or one that punishes those who try. I urge the Sonoma County District Attorney to prosecute the years of documented animal cruelty at Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse; not the people trying to stop it.”

Ms. Rosenberg, an animal cruelty investigator with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), was convicted of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanors after rescuing four sick chickens from slaughter. She will be sentenced on December 3 in Santa Rosa and faces up to 4.5 years of incarceration. She is represented by Chris Carraway, Staff Attorney at the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project (AALDP), and attorney Kevin Little. 

Petaluma Poultry is owned by Perdue Foods, one of the country’s largest poultry producers. Ms. Rosenberg’s footage of the open rescue was published online immediately after it happened. It was prompted by years of investigations exposing routine violations of California’s animal cruelty laws at Petaluma Poultry factory farms in Sonoma County, including birds collapsed on the floor or stuck on their backs unable to access food or water.

In 2018, Sonoma County Animal Services reported criminal animal cruelty at a Petaluma Poultry factory farm after examining birds who were emaciated, bruised, unable to walk, and suffering from necrotic wounds so severe that muscle and bone were exposed. Despite these alarming findings, the facility was never prosecuted. During Ms. Rosenberg’s trial, the court severely limited what the jury could learn about these prior investigations at Petaluma Poultry, despite the fact that those findings heavily influenced Ms. Rosenberg’s belief that the rescue was necessary.

The four precious rescued chickens, whom Ms. Rosenberg named Poppy, Ivy, Aster, and Azalea, are now alive and thriving at a farm sanctuary.