Succession star James Cromwell revives his Farmer Hoggett role in a new video for PETA, singing “If I Had Words” to a rescued piglet who fell off a lorry transporting him to be fattened for slaughter. Named after the film that inspired the Emmy winner to go vegan, Babe visited the honorary PETA US director at his New York home before arriving at the Chenoa Manor animal sanctuary in Avondale, Pennsylvania, where he will live out the rest of his days sniffing green grass and enjoying dirt baths with other rescued pigs.
“Babe is every bit as loving and playful as a puppy,” says Cromwell. “It was an honour to make his acquaintance, and I’ll rest easy knowing he’s safe to live out his life in peace, something every animal deserves to do.”
“Anyone moved by this rescue story can follow James’ lead and save lives every time they sit down to eat,” adds PETA Vice President Elisa Allen. “PETA asks everyone to see pigs and other animals as individuals, not ingredients, and leave them off their plates.”
PETA points out that pigs are playful, intelligent, and friendly animals who are soothed by music, love playing ball, sleep in “pig piles”, and even enjoy getting massages. In the global meat industry, which slaughters 1.5 billion pigs every year, they are commonly crammed into barren sheds or pens, where they may never see the sun or breathe fresh air. Their tails are often cut off, and their sensitive teeth are ground down, usually without painkillers. At the abattoir, they are hoisted upside down and their throats are cut, sometimes without effective stunning.
