East Bay animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg released from Sonoma County jail

Animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg was released from the Sonoma County jail Wednesday and will serve the rest of her felony sentence under house arrest, according to Berkeley-based Direct Action Everywhere.

The 23-year-old served 14 days for her Oct. 29 felony conspiracy conviction stemming from incursions in 2023 at Petaluma Poultry. Although sentenced to 90 days, Rosenberg was released early as part of California’s half-credit for good behavior.

She will serve the remaining 60 days of her sentence on strict house arrest beginning Jan. 14.

“The court hoped jail would teach me a lesson,”  Rosenberg said in a statement emailed to The Press Democrat. “It has, but perhaps not the one intended. Two weeks spent in solitary confinement have given me a glimpse into how it must feel to be an animal trapped in a cage.”

Rosenberg’s case was the most high-profile prosecution to stem from a series of demonstrations and farm breaches over several years targeting Petaluma-area poultry plants and farms for what DxE alleges is inhumane conditions at the company’s farms and processing facilities.

Members of the group also supported an attempt at the ballot box to outlaw Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, in Sonoma County, which voters overwhelmingly rejected during the 2024 election.

Farm operators have staunchly rejected activists’ claims and had pressured the District Attorney’s Office to prosecute Rosenberg and other involved Direct Action Everywhere members.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office did not comment on her release but said, “…If you choose to come into our county and commit a crime, we will investigate it and arrest those involved.”

Despite the recent legal setbacks, the group has remained undeterred and said Sonoma County will continue to be a frontier of their protest efforts.

“I am more determined than ever before to see a world where every animal is safe and free,” Rosenberg said in the statement.