Lesson in Love: Young Star of ‘Gifted’ Cuddles a Pig in Sweet New PETA Ad

Texas Native Mckenna Grace’s Back-to-School Billboard Urges Kids to Keep Pigs off Their Plates

For Immediate Release:
September 14, 2017

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

As kids go back to school, 11-year-old Gifted star Mckenna Grace appears in a new PETA ad with some wise words in behalf of pigs: “Love Them. Don’t Eat Them.” The big-hearted billboard—which shows her cheek to cheek with a contented pig named Sophie—will go up next month in two busy areas near elementary schools and kid-friendly attractions, including by the McKenna Children’s Museum in the star’s home state of Texas, to send a compassionate pro-vegetarian message to students.

“I want kids to know that even though we may be small, we can still have big hearts and loud voices for animals,” says Mckenna. “Pigs are just as smart, loyal, and loving as dogs, so it makes no sense that we keep one in our homes and put the other on our plates.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that consuming pork, ham, bacon, and other animal flesh supports some of the worst violence on Earth. Piglets’ bred for slaughter are typically separated from their mothers when they’re only 10 days old, their tails and testicles are cut off without painkillers, and they’re electrocuted, improperly stunned, and scalded to death in hot water that’s meant to soften their skin.

Mckenna previously starred in a PETA campaign urging people to keep dogs out of hot cars, and she’s part of a growing list of celebrities—including fellow Texas natives Woody Harrelson, Jared Padalecki, and Richard Linklater—who’ve teamed up with PETA to promote kindness to animals.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.