(KRON) -- Joaquin Phoenix has leapt to the defense of a UC Berkeley student who was convicted of felony conspiracy last month after taking four chickens from a slaughterhouse in Petaluma. The Hollywood A-lister issued a statement through animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DAE) condemning the prosecution of 23-year-old Zoe Rosenberg.

In the statement, Phoenix urged the Sonoma County District Attorney to instead, prosecute Perdue's Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse for animal cruelty. The DA, according to Phoenix, has ignored documented reports of animal abuse and disease at the facility. He also defended Rosenberg for what the statement called "her rescue of four suffering chickens."

Actor Joaquin Phoenix poses for photographers upon arrival at the Bafta Nominees Party, in centra

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