Concerns about confinement sounded as animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg says she is held in her cell because of medical equipment.
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 a 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.
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