PETA honors Hayden Panettiere with ad she recorded just weeks ago

PETA honored actress Hayden Panettiere by releasing an advertisement she recorded just weeks before her death. The one-minute commercial shows Panettiere addressing the camera alone, urging people to avoid marine parks where dolphins are kept under conditions she describes as extreme captivity. In the message, she contrasts how dolphins and orcas live in the wild versus in marine parks. PETA said the protest campaign came weeks before Panettiere died. The organization also recounted her earlier animal activism, including involvement in a 2007 confrontation with dolphin hunters near Taiji, Japan, featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove,” and efforts linked to Georgia Aquarium’s beluga permit denial and a meeting associated with releases of orcas and belugas. Panettiere died on Sunday at age 37 after responders found her unresponsive in Greenville, South Carolina; a preliminary autopsy found no signs of trauma, while cause and manner remain pending.