'Babe' star James Cromwell has helped save a piglet from the slaughterhouse.
The 83-year-old actor - who is a vocal animal rights advocate - teamed up with PETA to secure a brighter future for a baby pig in the US which was found "scraped, bruised and covered in mud" after falling from a meat truck taking it away to be fattened up for slaughter shortly before the Easter weekend (08.09.04.23).
The little creature has been named Babe after the actor's beloved 1995 film about a pig who learns to take on the duties of a sheep dog and Cromwell even got a chance to video chat with his new protege before Babe was transported to the Indraloka Animal Sanctuary in Pennsylvania.
In a clip posted on Twitter, he's heard telling the piglet: "Hello there, little man. I understand your name is Babe. I knew a pig named Babe. What a smart little pig she was. Bet you are too."
Cromwell wrote in the caption: "This sweet little guy is NOT Easter dinner. He jumped off a transport truck and will now be traveling to an animal sanctuary to live a peaceful life. That’ll do pig. That’ll do. "
He added in a statement released through animal rights organisation PETA: "Having had the privilege of witnessing and experiencing pigs’ intelligence and inquisitive personalities while filming the movie Babe changed my life and my way of eating, and so I jumped at the chance to save this real-life Babe.
"Every pig deserves to live in peace and joy at a sanctuary, choosing when to frolic, where to forage, and how to spend their time, yet few do."
The actor was previously named PETA's Person of the Year in 2022 after speaking out against the live export of pigs from Ireland, and pressuring Starbucks to end its vegan milk up-charge in the US.
Mimi Bekhechi, PETA's vice president for the UK, Europe, and Australia, praised the screen star for his campaigning, saying: "James Cromwell's compassion for all animals knows no bounds. "He's PETA's Person of the Year for playing a vital part in our hard-fought campaigns on behalf of animals whose abuse is kept hidden as they are confined to cages, exploited, and killed."