SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California animal rights activist who took four chickens from a major Perdue Farms poultry plant was found guilty Wednesday of felony conspiracy, trespassing and other charges and faces several years in jail.
Zoe Rosenberg, 23, did not deny taking the animals from Petaluma Poultry but argued she wasn't breaking the law because she was rescuing the birds from a cruel situation. The trial lasted about seven weeks in Sonoma County, an agricultural area of Northern California.
The Santa Rosa jury took less than a day to find Rosenberg guilty on all counts. The activist with Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, a Berkeley-based animal rights group, was on trial for two misdemeanor counts of trespassing, a misdemeanor count of tampering with a vehicle and a felony conspiracy charge.
Rosenberg said she does not regret what she did.
“I will not apologize for taking sick, neglected animals to get medical care,” Rosenberg said following her conviction. “When we see cruelty and violence, we can choose to ignore it or to intervene and try to make the world a better place. I chose to intervene, and because I did, Poppy, Ivy, Aster, and Azalea are alive today. For that, I will never be sorry.”
The group named the birds and placed them in an animal sanctuary.
Rosenberg walked out of court wearing an ankle monitor and briefly spoke to supporters, who were holding signs that read “Prosecute Petaluma Poultry” and “Right to Rescue.” She told them she would immediately head to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and report animal cruelty at Petaluma Poultry.
“We’re going to go now and report Petaluma Poultry and ask them to please finally give justice to these animals,” she said.
Rosenberg's attorney, Chris Carraway, said the district attorney's office was ignoring criminal animal cruelty in Sonoma County factory farms and that he plans to appeal the verdict.
“Sonoma County spent over six weeks and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to protect a multi-billion-dollar corporation from the rescue of four chickens worth less than $25,” Carraway said in a statement. “No doubt, the District Attorney’s office would never have spent a fraction of this time or money if the chickens had been dead in a supermarket meat case."
Rosenberg’s sentencing is set for Dec. 3, when she faces a maximum jail sentence of 4 1/2 years, Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said in a statement the verdict affirms no one is above the law.
“While we respect everyone’s right to free expression, it is unlawful to trespass, disrupt legitimate businesses, and endanger workers and animals in pursuit of a political or social agenda," she said.
Petaluma Poultry has said that DxE is an extremist group that is intent on destroying the animal agriculture industry. The company says the animals were not mistreated.
"The jury’s verdict makes it clear: personal beliefs don’t justify breaking the law," Herb Frerichs, general counsel of Petaluma Poultry, said in a statement. “DxE members admitted to planning and carrying out illegal acts — including break-ins, theft of private data, and stealing livestock — under the guise of activism and to gain publicity.”
Frerichs said the company supports the right to free speech and lawful protests, but this was not that.
Rosenberg testified she disguised herself as a Petaluma Poultry worker using a fake badge and earpiece to take the birds, and then posted a video of her actions on social media.
Petaluma Poultry is a subsidiary of Perdue Farms — one of the United States’ largest poultry providers for major grocery chains.
The co-founder of DxE was convicted two years ago for his role in factory farm protests in Petaluma.
This story’s headline has been corrected to say the company name is spelled Perdue, not Purdue.
Animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg, right, who is on trial for taking four chickens from one of Perdue Farms' major poultry plants, stands next to her attorney Chris Carraway outside Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
Animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg, who is on trial for taking four chickens from one of Perdue Farms' major poultry plants, is pictured outside Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
SYDNEY (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday proposed tougher national gun laws after a mass shooting targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach, leaving at least 15 people dead.
Albanese said he would propose new restrictions, including limiting the number of guns a licensed owner can obtain. His proposals were announced after the authorities revealed that the older of the two gunmen — who were a father and son — had amassed his six guns legally.
“The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws,” Albanese told reporters.
“People’s circumstances can change. People can be radicalized over a period of time. Licenses should not be in perpetuity,” he added.
At least 38 people were being treated in hospitals after the massacre on Sunday, when the two shooters fired indiscriminately on the beachfront festivities. Those killed included a 10-year-old girl, a rabbi and a Holocaust survivor.
The horror at Australia’s most popular beach was the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws primarily aimed at removing rapid-fire rifles from circulation. The mass shooting, which Albanese called a terrorist attack, has shocked and anguished Australians and provoked questions about whether the country’s leaders had done enough to curb rising antisemitism.
Jewish leaders and the massacre’s survivors expressed fear and fury as they questioned why the men hadn’t been detected before they opened fire.
“There’s been a heap of inaction,” said Lawrence Stand, a Sydney man who raced to a Bar Mitzvah celebration in Bondi when the violence erupted to find his 12-year-old daughter. “But the people were warned about this. ... And still not enough has been done by our government.”
“I think the federal government has made a number of missteps on antisemitism,” Alex Ryvchin, spokesperson for the Australian Council of Executive Jewry, told reporters gathered on Monday near the site of the massacre. “I think when an attack such as what we saw yesterday takes place the paramount and fundamental duty of government is the protection of its citizens, so there’s been an immense failure.”
An investigation was needed, Ryvchin said, into “how that was allowed to take place.” Those investigations were beginning to unfold Monday.
Little was publicly confirmed about the men. Police said they were a father and son but wouldn’t supply their names.
The father, 50, who was shot dead, had a gun license that allowed him to legally acquire the six firearms recovered from his property and also held a gun club membership, said Mal Lanyon, Police Commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.
The particular gun license he held entitled an adult with a “genuine reason” to own a rifle or shotgun. Accepted reasons include target shooting, recreational hunting and vermin control, but self-defense is not an accepted reason.
The man arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa, authorities said, and was an Australian resident when he died. Officials wouldn’t confirm what country he had migrated from.
His 24-year-old Australian-born son, who was shot and wounded, is being treated at a hospital. Lanyon said the man “may well” face criminal charges and police wouldn’t divulge what they knew about him to avoid marring a prosecution case against him.
None of the dead or wounded victims have been formally named by the authorities. Identities of those killed, who ranged in age from 10 to 87, began to emerge in news reports Monday.
Among them was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the family Hanukkah event that was targeted, according to Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs outreach worldwide and sponsors events during major Jewish holidays.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details. French President Emmanuel Macron said a French citizen, identified as Dan Elkayam, was among those killed.
Larisa Kleytman told reporters outside St Vincent’s Hospital that her husband, Alexander Kleytman, was among the dead. The couple were both Holocaust survivors, according to The Australian newspaper.
The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, an icon of Australia’s cultural life. They included hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival with food, face painting and a petting zoo.
On Monday, hundreds arrived near the scene to lay flowers at a growing pile of floral tributes. There were words of pride, too, for a man who was captured on video appearing to tackle and disarm one gunman, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.
The man was identified by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke as Ahmed al Ahmed. The 42-year-old fruit shop owner and father of two was shot in the shoulder by the other gunman and survived.
Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand and McGuirk from Melbourne, Australia.
Governor General Sam Mostyn places flowers at a tribute to shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Governor General Sam Mostyn, left, greets MP, Allegra Spender, at a gathering at a flower memorial to shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A woman is escorted from a flower memorial outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A woman kneels and prays at a flower memorial to shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A couple lay flowers at a tribute to shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
