PETA honors Hayden Panettiere with ad she recorded just weeks ago
PETA released a commercial recoded by Hayden Panettiere recently as it pays tribute the the actress and animal activist. (PETA via Storyful)
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals paid tribute to actress Hayden Panettiere by releasing the commercial she recorded recently with the animal rights organization.
Big picture view:
The advertisement, which features Panettiere addressing the camera alone, urges people to avoid marine parks where dolphins are kept in conditions she described as extreme captivity to help end the practice. Throughout the one-minute video, the onetime child star, who soared to fame in the TV shows "Heroes" and "Nashville," contrasts conditions that dolphins and orcas experience in the wild versus those at marine parks.
What they're saying:
"Just weeks before her passing, the actor and Golden Globe nominee crammed herself into a bathtub for a raw new campaign protesting marine parks like SeaWorld, which sentence dolphins to a lifetime of suffering and loneliness in captivity," PETA wrote in a statement.
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The backstory:
A statement accompanying PETA’s video recounted her history as an animal activist, particularly in support of marine mammals. The organization highlighted a 2007 event that it said first brought the then-18-year-old Panettiere’s activism to the fore. In a moment included in the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove," she paddled through the waters near Taiji, Japan, to confront dolphin hunters.
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Eight years later, she backed a denial by the National Marine Fisheries Service of a permit for the Georgia Aquarium to bring in 18 beluga whales that were captured in Russia, PETA stated. She had also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of a successful effort to get nearly 100 orcas and belugas released.
Dig deeper:
Panettiere, who also had roles in "Remember the Titans," "I Love You, Beth Cooper," and two "Scream" movies, died on Sunday at age 37. Emergency responders found her around 2 p.m. after a report of an unresponsive woman at the Judson Mill Lofts in Greenville, South Carolina, the city’s police department told The Associated Press. Panettiere was pronounced dead at the scene.
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The Greenville County Coroner’s Office and the Greenville City Police Department have launched investigations into her death. A preliminary autopsy report noted there were no signs of trauma that would have led to her death. It stated the cause and manner of death have yet to be determined, pending further investigation.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from PETA, The Associated Press, and prior coverage. This story was reported from Orlando.