PETA Statement re the Passing of Hayden Panettiere

For Immediate Release:
August 17, 2026

Contact:
Hannah Nelson 202-483-7382

Below, please find a statement from PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange on the passing of Heroes star and dedicated animal advocate Hayden Panettiere:

Hayden Panettiere became a household name playing a hero on TV, but to animals, she was the real deal. She fearlessly paddled into the blood-stained waters of Taiji, Japan to stare down dolphin hunters during their annual massacre, a moment captured in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, and never stopped denouncing marine parks like SeaWorld, calling their confinement of complex, far-ranging marine mammals in concrete tanks “disgusting.” The world has lost a kind soul and the animals a fierce ally, and everyone at PETA holds her memory close.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kitsfor people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.