Alicia Silverstone Urges Topeka Moviegoers to Say ‘No’ to Animal Dissection Ahead of Y2K Screenings
For Immediate Release:
December 4, 2024
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
Forcing kids to dissect frogs in school? As if! That’s the message Y2K star Alicia Silverstone is delivering to kids and parents in a PETA video spot running on the big screen in Topeka before showings of the new A24 horror-comedy. The longtime PETA pal appears with her son Bear in a special heartfelt message that empowers kids and parents to say “no” to dissecting frogs and other animals. In it, Silverstone points out that cutting up animals—like other forms of violence—has no place in classrooms. Topeka schools allow students who are opposed to dissection to request an alternative lesson.
“Dissection is the only thing we ask our kids to do in school that we would be disturbed to find out they were doing outside of school. Cutting up dead animals desensitizes them. It tells them it’s OK to hurt other creatures, to hurt each other,” says Silverstone. “The great news is that there are so many humane alternatives, from 3D models [to] computer programs. We don’t need to cut up animals.”
Silverstone’s message will run at the B&B Wheatfield 9 on S.W. Fairlawn Road and at theaters in other cities, including Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Frogs are the most commonly dissected animals below the university level. Bullfrogs—a frequently dissected species—are the largest true frogs in North America and live seven to nine years in the wild. Males gather in large groups to sing to attract females—and some older females will even join in the singing to force the males to compete harder to win them over. Roughly 10 million animals are used for dissection in the U.S. every year, including cats, mice, rats, worms, dogs, rabbits, fetal pigs, and fish. PETA points out that, contrary to what many people believe, many animals used for dissection don’t die naturally—they may come from breeding facilities or be caught in the wild specifically to be killed and cut up. TeachKind Science—part of PETA’s humane education division—offers the silicone-based Kind Frog™ to replace real frogs in classroom dissection, plus a list of other animal-free teaching methods.
Silverstone isn’t the only Y2K star to collaborate with PETA—actor Jaeden Martell stars in a chilling new PETA video series urging people to keep their cats safe by keeping them indoors.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on or abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
