Horror Stars the McGraw Sisters Know What’s Really Scary: Animal Homelessness

For Immediate Release:
May 4, 2023

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

Budding horror icons Violet and Madeleine McGraw star in a new PETA Kids campaign with a message for anyone looking to add a companion animal to their family: “Animal homelessness is scary, so parents, ‘Adopt! Don’t shop!’” In an accompanying video spot, the young actors promote their message of kindness alongside their adopted dog, Rudy, who has himself become an Instagram celebrity.

M3GAN star Violet first spotted Rudy on social media while he was up for adoption. “We actually rescued him from a hoarder house, and he was found with over 100 dogs,” says her sister, Madeleine (known for her roles in The Black Phone and Secrets of Sulphur Springs, now in its third season on the Disney Channel and Disney+). “I feel like when you get a new dog, you’re spreading more love for yourself and your family, and I was just so happy that we could save his life.”

The McGraws urge kids to tell their parents to adopt animals from animal shelters and never buy them from breeders or pet shops, which exacerbate the homeless-animal overpopulation crisis. Around 70 million dogs and cats are homeless in the U.S. at any given time. Only an estimated 10% of them end up in animal shelters, where many must be euthanized due to injury, illness, old age, lack of good homes, or psychological damage.

The McGraw sisters join a long list of celebrities—including Sarah Jeffery, Mckenna Grace, Sia, Bella Thorne, Corey Fogelmanis, Gregg Sulkin, and Jordan Fisher—who have teamed up with PETA or other PETA entities to promote kindness to animals.

PETA Kids—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAKids.com or follow the group on Facebook or Instagram.