Hayden Panettiere attempted some real-life heroism on Tuesday when she, and other animal activists, paddled out into the open sea on surfboards to try to rescue dolphins from an annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. The mission was unsuccessful, however, as she and the others were threatened and forced to turn back... and the fishermen continued.
"This baby stuck its head out and kind of looked as us, and the thought that the baby is no longer with us is very difficult," Panettiere, who stars in the NBC show Heroes, said after coming ashore in tears.
Hayden is a known animal-lover, seen here with her two dogs, Penny Lane and Madison. About 14,000 dolphins are killed for food in Japan each year in these coastal hunts, which involve herding groups of dolphins into a cove where they are netted and killed by divers.
Good on her for trying though. Nice to see a young starlet in activism.
It's so sad