Animal Rights Activist Says She Is Held In Cell 23 Hours A Day

PETALUMA, CA — As animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg was on her fifth day Monday of a sentence for taking chickens from a Petaluma slaughterhouse, concerns about medical care in the Sonoma County jail were being raised, as well as supporters’ demands that Gov. Gavin Newsom pardon the activist.

A jury found Rosenberg guilty of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanors for taking four chickens from the Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse. A judge on Dec. 3 ordered her to serve 30 days in jail and 60 days through a jail-alternative program — followed by two years of probation.

The sentence was far less than the 4-1/2 years she faced after being convicted in October. But Rosenberg's parents and supporters said a jail sentence could be life-threatening because she suffers from severe health issues, including Type 1 diabetes and gastroparesis (a chronic condition causing abdominal pain and digestion difficulties) for which Rosenberg uses an insulin pump and feeding tube.

Cassie King, the spokesperson for DxE — or Direct Action Everywhere — said the jail allowed Rosenberg to keep her medical equipment needed as a result of diabetes and gastroparesis, which requires her to carry an insulin pump and to wear a feeding tube, but restricted her to remaining alone in her cell because of it. The jail also restricted Rosenberg's access to glucose, which she needs to treat low blood sugar extremes, King said.

Rosenberg is isolated because of her medical devices — in exchange for keeping her equipment, she is kept apart from other inmates.

"It's a few days into my jail sentence," Rosenberg wrote from jail this week. "The people in the cells around me are screaming and banging on their doors. They are often crying about how they want to be free. To escape this place. I understand. I spend nearly 23 hours a day in a small cell, almost entirely in isolation. When I get to briefly leave, I enter a common area by myself."

The district attorney's office did not respond immediately to a request about Rosenberg's medical care.

For inmate medical care, Sonoma County contracts with Wellpath, the largest commercial provider of health care in jails and prisons across 37 states.

The company has been hit by 1,400 lawsuits, federal investigations nationwide, and scathing reports over the quality of care in the jails they staff around the Bay Area, including the one where Rosenberg is being held in Santa Rosa. A 2024 Sonoma County Grand Jury singled out Wellpath for the impact of staffing shortages on mental health care in the local jail, formally called the Main Adult Detention Facility.

Staffing shortages can have a ripple effect on inmates in general, but especially on people with other acute needs.

In Alameda County, the family of a man who died from drinking too much water at the Santa Rita Jail last year sued Alameda County and Wellpath, according to reports.

In mid-2024, the Monterey County officials and Wellpath agreed to settle with the families of three inmates who died while in custody at the Monterey County Jail. The agreement was the latest in five lawsuits filed between 2013 and 2019, resulting in $9 million in judgments and settlements.

As lawsuits stacked up, lawmakers began to scrutinize Wellpath for practices alleged to cause long-term health problems and the deaths of dozens of inmates in their care. However, dozens of wrongful death, personal injury, and medical negligence lawsuits were shelved after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2024.

Wellpath could not be reached for comment, but Patch will update this story if we hear back.

Sonoma County prosecutors, the district attorney, and Farm Bureau sought a longer sentence for Rosenberg to deter similar actions by animal activists that they say hurt local agriculture and put farmers' livelihoods at risk.

Supporters who marched in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York City demanded that Newsom pardon Rosenberg.

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