‘Honour her memory’: PETA releases Hayden Panettiere’s final campaign filmed before her death

Hayden Panettiere’s final campaign for PETA has been released following her death, with the organisation revealing a powerful message she filmed just weeks before she died.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Hayden Panettiere (@haydenpanettiere)

The Heroes actor, who was 36, was found unresponsive at a property in South Carolina on Sunday 16 August. She was later remembered as an “incredible light” and “force of nature” in a statement following her death.

Now, PETA has shared one of the last projects Hayden worked on, which saw her using her platform to campaign against marine parks and the captivity of dolphins and orcas.

The campaign was filmed around two weeks before her death and shows Hayden lying in a bathtub, with her hair spilling over the side. Across the image are the words: “Could you live in a bathtub?”

The campaign encourages people to “say no to marine parks” and “end cruel captivity”.

In a video released alongside the campaign, Hayden spoke directly about the conditions marine animals face in captivity.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by PETA (@peta)

She asked: “Can you imagine their frustration, their trauma, their depression? All that is important and crucial for their well-being is ripped away. … We can end this. You and me.

“In their ocean homes they can be with their families, dive deep to escape the hot sun and enjoy the rain on their backs… all of that is taken from them when they are confined to small tanks.”

PETA described the campaign as one of the final acts of Hayden’s life, sharing the footage on Instagram alongside a tribute to her activism.

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The organisation wrote: “In one of the last acts of her short, impactful life, Hayden Panettiere asked her audience and the world to think of dolphins and orcas and boycott marine parks.

“In tribute to her life and legacy of compassion, we’re sharing the campaign, which marks a poignant final chapter in Panettiere’s fierce advocacy for marine mammals. Her activism made headlines worldwide in 2007, when, at just 18, she paddled into the blood-stained waters of Taiji, Japan, to confront dolphin hunters during the annual slaughter, a moment captured in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Hayden Panettiere (@haydenpanettiere)

“Across the U.S., hundreds of dolphins are confined to pools or shallow lagoons, forced to perform tricks and entertain tourists. Many were abducted from their ocean homes and families decades ago, while others were born in captivity and have never known the freedom of the open sea.”

PETA then urged people to remember Hayden by following through on the message she was campaigning for.

The post concluded: “Honour Hayden’s memory by refusing to buy a ticket to any place that condemns these remarkable animals to tiny concrete tanks.”

PETA also called on viewers to “honour her memory by doing as she asked” and support its campaign against animals being kept in captivity.

Animal rights had been an important part of Hayden’s public activism for years. In 2007, when she was 18, she travelled to Taiji in Japan and joined surfers and activists attempting to disrupt the annual dolphin hunt.

She returned to Taiji in 2010 and went on to support organisations including The Whaleman Foundation, the African Wildlife Foundation and K9 Connection.

The newly released campaign is therefore a continuation of a cause Hayden had publicly championed for almost two decades, and one of the final pieces of advocacy she left behind.

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Featured image via X, Instagram