Danai Gurira at the Global Citizen Festival, Sept. 2023.Photo:Rob Kim/Getty
Rob Kim/Getty
Black PantherstarDanai Gurirais teaming up with PETA for a new campaign reminding people never to leave their dogs in hot cars.
Danai Gurira and her dog, Papi, appear in a PETA ad.Matt Sayles/ PETA
Matt Sayles/ PETA
“He’s family. If he were in trouble, I would do anything to save him. My friends at PETA and I are urging everyone to be a warrior for animals. If you see a dog alone in a parked car, do whatever it takes to save them,” the award-winning actress said.
Moira Colley, a director forPETA, explained the feeling behind the ad, saying “it was important to Danai that she look focused and fierce because she wants people to act if they see a dog in danger.”
“Every year it seems that people need to be reminded that dogs suffer and die when left in hot cars," Colley said in a statement to PEOPLE. “These deaths are agonizing but entirely preventable—guardians must remember never to leave animals in parked cars.”
PETA said they tracked 149hot weather-related deaths of dogs and catsacross the country this year. The organization says that surpasses the 57 heat-related death reports last year or any other year on record. They also pointed out that the actual number of dogs and cats who have died from extreme heat in 2023 is likely much higher, as most cases go unreported.
“Mild weather can be misleading — the temperature outside might be a lovely 70 degrees, but the temperature inside a parked car can soar to 99 degrees in 20 minutes. And on a 90-degree day, the interior temperature can reach as high as 109 degrees in just 10 minutes,” Colley said.
Danai Gurira as her character Michonne in “The Walking Dead”.Gene Page/AMC
The Tony-nominated playwright has also revealed that Papi wasn’t her dog’s original name. It was Pierre, but Gurira didn’t think that fit her feisty dog’s demeanor.
“My rescue dog was named Pierre,” she toldOprah.com, “but I started calling him Papi after I saw how commanding he is around bigger dogs. I sometimes imagine he was the head of a drug cartel in a former life, and I’m just his cover.”
source: people.com
