7-Year-Old Milwaukie Girl Is Finalist in PETA’s ‘Cutest Vegan Kids’ Contest
Grade School Gymnast Is Setting Her Sights on Cirque du Soleil–Style Circus That Doesn’t Hurt Animals
For Immediate Release:
April 8, 2016
Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382
Seven-year-old Milwaukie resident Vivian Anderson has just been named one of the top four female finalists in PETA Kids’ 2016 Cutest Vegan Kids contest—and now it’s up to voters to help PETA Kids decide whether she’ll take home the top prize. Two winners—one girl and one boy—will each receive a trophy, an animal-friendly prize pack, and a year’s worth of bragging rights.
Vivian went vegan at 2½ years old because she “couldn’t understand why people would want to eat baby chickens and drink another animal’s milk.” Her parents are also vegan, and Vivian helped her older brother and some friends make the switch to animal-free eating, too.
In addition to donating supplies to a local animal shelter—where her family adopted their cat, Sir Fluff—Vivian helps animals by taking aerial gymnastics lessons so that someday she can join a Cirque du Soleil–style circus that doesn’t force animals to perform. She also helped homeless people around Thanksgiving last year by distributing vegan snacks.
“Vivian’s passion and creative spirit are an inspiration to young people everywhere,” says PETA Senior Director of Youth Outreach and Campaigns Marta Holmberg. “PETA Kids views all the contestants as winners because they prove that even the littlest person can make a big difference for animals.”
PETA Kids—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that more people are drawn to the benefits of vegan meals every year, including better health, a smaller carbon footprint, and saving the lives of more than 100 animals per vegan annually.
Voting on the finalists to help PETA Kids decide whom it should choose as the winners runs until April 15, with the two winners announced on April 18. The decision will be based on several factors, including vote count. See the full contest details here and the main contest page at PETAKids.com/CutestVegan.