James Cromwell Arrested After 'Cat Torture' Protest

Actor is a PETA activist
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 8, 2013 9:47 AM CST

James Cromwell isn't just an actor (and Oscar nominee to boot, for Babe), he's a PETA activist—and the latter role got him arrested yesterday. As seen in a PETA video, he walked into a board meeting at the University of Wisconsin carrying a poster of a cat with a metal clamp that had been implanted in its head and started yelling about "torture," according to the Hollywood Reporter. His issue is with experimentation the university is doing on felines in an effort to help the deaf.

“As many as 30 cats a year at UW have had holes drilled in their skulls" Cromwell says in the video. “They are deafened, starved for days at a time, and then decapitated. This is not science. This is torture. And it is criminal.” A university official responded, "Today's events are just another attempt by outside activists to draw attention to a cause. They have attacked and distorted this research—which has very real benefits for people who are deaf—from every angle imaginable." (More James Cromwell stories.)

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