The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said 98 people were arrested Monday afternoon during a protest by the Direct Action Everywhere animal rights group at a duck farm near Petaluma.
Those arrested were booked into Sonoma County Jail, sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum said, and most of the arrests were on trespassing charges.
The sheriff's office issued a Nixle alert around 1:20 p.m. advising people to stay away from the facility in the 3700 block of Middle Two Rock Road in unincorporated southwest Sonoma County. Roads are blocked, pedestrians are in the street and traffic is congested, according to the sheriff's office.
Direct Action Everywhere said in a news release that about 600 activists were at the duck slaughterhouse and dozens planned to lock their necks to the slaughterhouse shackles and machinery.
Direct Action Everywhere said the Reichardt Duck Farm slaughters a million ducks annually and is the subject of numerous reports of animal cruelty.
Dozens of animal rights activists were arrested in September at a farm that supplies starving animals to Petaluma Poultry, the activist group said. A preliminary hearing for six protesters is scheduled for August in Sonoma County Superior Court.
