In this riveting biography, Zoe Rosenberg tells her story, how her love of animals - and chickens in particular - could send her to prison for about 5 years. A straight-A student at UC Berkeley, the 23-year old graduated while wearing an ankle monitor that allowed authorities to track her movements for more than 20 months. It was finally taken off at the start of her trial. Her trial began on September 15th, 2025 in heavily agricultural Sonoma County, California. For what? For rescuing 4 chickens that she says were being "criminally abused" at a poultry processing facility. But, authorities say she stole them and want her to serve years behind bars. As property, the total worth of these chickens has been estimated at 24 dollars. She is charged with felony conspiracy and three misdemeanors. UnchainedTV interview Zoe for this mini doc before the theft charge was dropped. Zoe's supported maintain the theft charge was dropped to limit testimony about the condition of the chickens she rescued, animals she says were very ill and suffering.
To Zoe, those chickens are priceless and worth going to prison over. She also believes authorities are trying to crush the fast-growing, youth-oriented movement to rescue animals trapped in factory farms and slaughterhouses. It's a movement spearheaded by the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, of which Zoe is a proud member. Authorities in the same county in which Zoe is charged previously convicted animal rights leader Wayne Hsiung, who is the co-founder of Direct Action Everywhere (https://www.directactioneverywhere.com). In fact, Zoe was arrested by cops on the very day that Hsiung was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years probation in connection with other actions against factory farms in the region.
Zoe believes she had the legal right to take those 4 chickens to a veterinarian for treatment and planned to use what she calls the "necessity defense." Since taping this mini doc, the judge in the case has denied the defense use of the necessity defense at trial, further limiting Zoe Rosenberg in her ability to make a case for why she did what she did.
The corporate owners of the facility have called Zoe's allegations false and describe DxE as an "extreme group" which has "the ultimate goal of ending animal agriculture altogether and imposing a radical agenda that would threaten the livelihoods of Sonoma County farmers and the food security of millions of people who rely on animal agriculture." DxE's counter to that is: "We reject the speciesism that enables the mass torture and killing of nonhuman animals and the blatant disregard for their home - our planet - as well as the unjust and oppressive institutions and ideologies that harm all animals including humans." Now, take a deep dive into this issue and the life of one young woman at the center of it all: Zoe Rosenberg.
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