""Criminalizing people for rescuing suffering animals is a moral failure," Phoenix wrote. "Compassion is not a crime. When individuals step in to save a life because the system has looked the other way, they should be supported - not prosecuted. We have to decide who we are as a society: one that protects the vulnerable, or one that punishes those who try.""
"By 3 p.m. Monday, the post had been shared more than 1,800 times, and had attracted nearly 2,000 comments, most of them supportive of Phoenix's message. Carla Rodriguez, the Sonoma County district attorney, said her office had not heard directly from the actor, and she had not spoken to him. Rosenberg, a 23-year-old Cal student billed by Berkeley-based DxE as an "animal cruelty investigator," was convicted Oct. 29 by a Sonoma County jury on charges of felony conspiracy and three misdemeanors."
Joaquin Phoenix released a statement through Direct Action Everywhere urging the Sonoma County District Attorney to prosecute Perdue's Petaluma Poultry facility for alleged, documented cruelty rather than focusing on activists. Phoenix wrote that criminalizing people who rescue suffering animals is a moral failure and that compassion is not a crime, calling for support rather than prosecution of individuals who intervene. DxE posted the statement on Facebook and Instagram, attracting wide engagement and supportive comments. Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said her office had not heard directly from Phoenix. Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old Cal student, was convicted Oct. 29 and faces sentencing Dec. 3 with a potential 4½-year sentence for her role in a 2023 incursion at the Petaluma processing plant.
Read at The Mercury News
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