True Blood Star Sinks Her Teeth into Animal Advocacy

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-08-13 17:00:00 UTC
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Kristin Bauer is making a name for herself in HBO's hit series, True Blood, as the vampire Pam. But off the set, she's making a name for herself as an outspoken advocate for animals.

Most recently, she penned a letter to the National Institutes of Health to protest their plan to pull more than 200 chimpanzees out of retirement and start subjecting them to invasive experiments. The chimps are currently at the Alamogordo facility in New Mexico, where they have indoor-outdoor access, fresh fruit and enrichment and have been free from testing for almost a decade. If they're shipped to Texas, they'll be kept in renovated cages that had been originally designed for much smaller macaques and forced to endure biomedical procedures.

Bauer writes, "I've always been fascinated by chimpanzees. We now know that these amazing animals use tools, grieve for their dead, and are capable of complex communication with humans ... Please don't send the Alamogordo chimpanzees back in the laboratory. These wonderful animals deserve so much better."

It's not just the Alamogordo chimps who can count Kristin Bauer on their side. Last year, she became a spokesperson for the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Tails for Whales campaign. (She was also joined in the campaign by her True Blood co-star Alexander Skarsgard, who plays her vampire maker, Eric, on the show.) Bauer spent Earth Day lobbying for whales in Washington, D.C., while President Obama was meeting behind closed doors to support the proposal to lift the international ban on commercial whaling.

She's into promoting animal adoption instead of buying from pet stores, too. Last month, she escorted an adoptable terrier mix down the runway in a celebrity-filled, fashion-show-style adoption event and fundraiser for the animal rescue The Amanda Foundation.

From one-on-one conversations to PSAs to Capitol Hill, Kristin Bauer believes education is the key. "I think people are inherently good ... I want to highlight what is happening so people can change their daily lives."

Join Kristin Bauer — along with Gene Hackman, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and many others across the country — and speak out against the transfer of the Alamogordo chimps.

Photo credit: YouTube

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.

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