Courtesy of ALDF
The Center for Animal Law Studies, in conjunction with the student chapter of the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), hosted their annual week of events focused on law and animal rights from March 9-13, including a variety of topical events. The final event highlighted animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg, who was recently convicted of conspiracy after removing four chickens from a transport truck headed to slaughter. Rosenberg hosted a lecture at Lewis & Clark Law School Thursday, March 12. During the closing event, Rosenberg shared the story of her arrest, trial, and time in jail with students and community members.
The Animal Law Week event was organized by ALDF co-directors Frannie Von Friedeburg 2L and Brooke Helstrom 2L. ALDF student chapters advocate for animal rights by promoting the ALDF mission and awareness of current cases and by hosting community events. Both Friedeburg and Helstrom are students at the Law School studying environmental law and animal law, and both were the 1L delegates for last year’s event, which assisted in their understanding of how to put the event together this year. Friedeburg and Helstrom expressed gratitude for their student board and their assistance in putting together the event.
The event is funded by the Center for Animal Law Studies, Law Schools for Change and the national ALDF organization. Students were assisted by the Events and Facilities team to coordinate and put together event spaces.
The week-long series highlighted the role of animal law in addressing issues ranging from factory farming to the intersection of animal abuse and domestic violence. Through presentations, advocacy discussions and community events, organizers aimed to connect students, legal professionals and activists while raising awareness about how legal systems can be used to improve protections for animals. The four events also reflected the increasing visibility of animal rights activism, including high-profile legal cases that test the boundaries of civil disobedience and animal welfare law.
Events throughout the week included a presentation by the Australian advocacy group Lucy’s Project on the links between domestic violence and animal abuse and potential legal solutions. Additionally, there was a “MeatOut” event serving free vegan food and a multimedia exploration of the history of the animal rights movement. The week concluded with a reception featuring vegan charcuterie boards and a silent auction fundraiser that benefited the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary, a local farm animal rescue . Notably, the event also featured display of animal rights historical publications provided by student Jeremy Beckham 3L and a presentation from Rosenberg.
Many of the individual event topics were inspired by Friedeburg and Helstrom’s attendance of the ALDF’s annual conference in Chicago on Oct. 17. The students attended a presentation by Chris Carraway, Rosenberg’s attorney, which inspired them to reach out to the activist.
“At the time, the trial was active, and it was making national headlines,” Helstrom said in an interview with the Mossy Log. “In the animal rights activist community Zoe is a known name and a really well respected and admired figure … we thought it would be so cool if we could get Zoe to come because it all kind of fits together.”
Friedeburg and Helstrom got into contact with Rosenberg over Instagram direct messaging. Helstrom mentioned existing connections between Rosenberg and activists in the Portland area that contributed to her attendance at the event.
“She has been such a delightful person to work with, she was so responsive,” Friedeburg said.
Rosenberg went through a publicized trial for felony charges relating to her actions against Peteluma Poultry. In 2023, she took four chickens off the back of a Petaluma Poultry truck en route to a slaughter house.
Rosenberg is a prominent member of the animal liberation group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), which had conducted investigations into Petaluma Poultry finding a multitude of animal rights violations. Frustrated by federal, state and local inaction by law enforcement after DxE’s reporting of Petaluma Poultry’s criminal activity, Rosenberg took action into her own hands.
She was soon arrested on counts of conspiracy, tresspassing, tampering with a vehicle and other various charges. Rosenberg went to a lengthy trial against Petaluma Farms and was ultimately convicted of conspiracy.
Rosenberg is now a felon. She was sent to jail for 90 days, serving her sentence in solitary confinement to keep her life-sustaining medical devices (Rosenberg has a chronic illness). She was released early to serve house arrest.
Rosenberg presented her story, explaining her activism and action, the legal process she underwent and her time in jail. She included pictures of the four chickens she rescued — whom she named Poppy, Ivy, Aster and Azalea — photos of her arrest and trial, and publications covering her story including The New York Times and CNN. She emphasized that her trial brought international attention to the issue of animal cruelty.
Rosenberg ended her presentation by reading a piece she wrote in solitary confinement. The piece compared her experience counting the days to her freedom to the life of an animal caged in a factory farm who has never experienced freedom of the outside world and does not know to hope for it. She explained that she is currently undergoing processes to appeal her trial and hopes to set a positive legal precedent for the rights of animals through her proceedings.
Organizers suggested there has been a widely positive reception of the event by students and community members. The events were attended by like-minded local groups such as vegan Facebook and LinkedIn communities, Northwest Veg, Pro-Animal Future, Humane League, and meet-up groups such as Portland Metro Veggies.
“I feel like the interest has been really great,” Friedeburg said. “People have been really engaging with all of the events this week … at least 120 people lined up for food on Tuesday.”
Helstrom emphasized the positive impact of the ALDF chapter and animal rights activism community.
“Being around other like-minded students who are passionate about the same things as me has been huge,” Helstrom said. “We both come from Montana where there weren’t that many other people who did not eat meat or had a very different relationship with non-human animals.”
Helstrom cited her upbringing as inspiration for going into animal law and participating in the advocacy movement.
“I grew up having this real innate connection to animals and nature,” Helstrom said. “I’ve always had this recognition that conservation and the environment are both very important things. I grew kind of disillusioned by the fact that other people in the conservation movement would use conservation and biodiversity as justification to hurt and kill animals, and that just never sat well with me. Now that I’m in law school, I’m working at that intersection to try to better advocate for the individual needs of animals.”
An ALDF conference is set to be hosted in Portland next spring. The Animal Law Week event will return next year, and in the meantime, the LC ALDF chapter continues to advocate for animal rights by providing a forum for education and through animal law pro bono work.
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