Nickelodeon star Daniella Monet unveiled her new ad for peta2—in which she encourages young people to let fish off the hook by not eating them—at a star-studded reception at the wildly popular all-vegan Sublime restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday.

In an interview that can be viewed on peta2.com, Monet explains why she went vegetarian at the age of 5: "I went to a dude ranch with my family, and I asked a lot of questions. And I got answers that I probably needed to hear." As for people who say that they're "vegetarian" but still eat fish? "Fish aren't veggies," she says. "Fish have feelings, too, and fish are trying to live a life as well." She adds, "You don't need fish. Let the fish swim with the mermaids."

Monet also presented 12-year-old Rose McCoy—a lifelong vegan and animal rights defender—with the Nanci Alexander Activist Award, named for the owner of Sublime and a longtime PETA member. Among Rose's many accomplishments, she has spoken (remember—she's 12) at a McDonald's annual meeting and at New York City Council meetings, has formed an animal rights club, and donates a portion of her cat-sitting money to PETA's spay/neuter mobile clinics. 

Also in attendance were Mexican soap star Pablo Azar, who showed off his dramatic new anti-circus PETA ad, and NY Ink star Ami James, who did likewise with a new ad starring himself and his adorable dog, Bella.

Among other stars lending glamour to the festivities was model and TV host Elisabetta Canalis, a vocal animal advocate who would rather go naked than wear fur and who memorably locked herself in a sweltering car last summer to illustrate the need to protect dogs from the heat. 

It's here! "Hug a Vegetarian" Day has arrived, and it's the perfect time to show some love to the people who are showing love to animals. The average vegetarian saves about 100 animals every year from cruelty and abuse on factory farms. That's definitely worth a few X's and O's.

PETA's youth division, peta2, held hugging events across the country. If you didn't make it to one of the hug fests, you can still spread appreciation for people who are fighting cruelty to animals, climate change, and the obesity epidemic by posting and tweeting virtual hugs. That's what Victorious star and vegan Daniella Monet will be doing—she's ready to hug it out with one enthusiastic peta2 supporter.

© iStockphoto.com | Piotr Gatlik

Don't forget to tweet-hug your favorite vegetarian celebrities too. Will it be animal champion Lea Michele; Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity winners Russell Brand and Kristen Wiig; everyone's favorite vegan president, Bill Clinton; or funniest vegan Steve-O? What the heck, just hug 'em all.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

"Skinnygirl" Bethenny Frankel might be calling us for tips—she is raising baby Bryn on a healthy vegetarian diet. 

Award-winning singer Leona Lewis is also a champ for seals. The longtime vegetarian and fur foe is calling for an end to the seal slaughter in Namibia. But one place that fur was welcome—and, in fact, required—was at a dog fashion show hosted by Kevin Nealon, which raised money for spay-and-neuter clinics.

Many stars have been letting their fingers do the talking, sending pro-animal messages to their millions of Twitter followers:

American Idol veteran Jordin Sparks and her four dogs would probably have enjoyed the show—Sparks makes sure that they get plenty of quality time together. The dogs travel right alongside her on her tour bus, and (get your "Awww!" ready) she says that she strives to be a better person because of them.

Is Elle Fanning thinking about becoming an animal parent too? The Super 8 star was spotted in Santa Monica looking at cats who were up for adoption.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Celebrities took to Twitter yesterday to make a huge splash for seals. We asked compassionate celebrity supporters to tweet a message to their fans telling them that the Canadian commercial seal slaughter had begun and including a link to our "It's Time to End the Seal Slaughter" donation page. So many of them responded that our Twitter page looked like an A-list party.
 

 
Supporters who spoke up for seals who are bludgeoned and sometimes skinned alive for their fur include Ellen Degeneres, who also posted it on her blog, Pink, Sophia Bush,  Daniella Monet, Jayde Nicole, Lea Michele, Vida Guerra, Alicia Silverstone, Dave Navarro, Stephanie Pratt, The Veronicas, Bill Maher, Ian Somerhalder, Diablo Cody, Sasha Grey, and, of course, Honorary PETA Director Pamela Anderson.

Get in on the action! Tweet this link to your Twitter followers: http://bit.ly/gNMLOJ. Or go to our donation page to help stop Canada's barbaric seal slaughter.

 
Written by Michelle Sherrow