“Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere has been a whale and dolphin activist since she was 15.
She even appears in the amazing Oscar-nominated doc, “The Cove,” about a Japanese dolphin mass slaughter where thousands of dolphins are trapped and brutally killed. She was filmed paddling out in the water and being chased away by angry, violent Japanese fisherman.
The Dish Rag caught up with her at the “Cove” premiere at HAVEN 360 Wednesday (Mar. 3) in Hollywood. The “Heroes” star talked with us about the recent death of a SeaWorld trainer caused by Tilikum, a male Orca who has been in captivity for almost three decades .
“Honestly, it¹s horrible what happened,” she says. “Three deaths by the same whale, by an animal that should be not be in captivity in the first place.
“Have you ever seen a parrot pullout it¹s feathers? It¹s from depression.
How do you put an interactive, social animal, one of the smartest
animals in the world… and you’re going to stick them in a tub and make
them do tricks? How do you do that? Because they make money? It’s
disgusting and Sea World is absolutely wrong. This is a big wake up call.
How many more people are going to have to be killed? When are we going to
realize that these animals are not supposed to be there?”
Producer/manager Keith Addis, chairman of the board of Oceana, an
international conservation agency, added, “There is something wildly
inappropriate about having these majestic, powerful, gorgeous
creatures being made prisoners and taught to be doing stupid pet tricks.
This practice needs to be stopped completely and immediately.”
Hayden is also working hard to make changes in US whale and dolphin policy.
“I’ve lobbied in Washington, ” she tells us. “I’ve talked to President Obama about it and have met with Senator Barbara Boxer and Senator John Kerry. I¹ve held protests, we¹ve done aerial whales on the lawn of the capital. I’ve even had a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Japan and the Minister of Fisheries at the Japanese Embassy in Japan when there was a warrant for my arrest. I could have easily been arrested or detained.”
Keep up the good work, Hayden. You’re a real hero. If you want to be a hero and help Hayden save the whales, go to whaleman.org. [source]
