Anjelica Huston named PETA Person of the Year

WENN, Friday, December 28, 2012, 3:11pm (PST)

By newsdesk@wenn.com (WENN Newsdesk)

• Anjelica Huston has been crowned People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' Person of the Year for campaigning to keep chimpanzees out of TV commercials.

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  Thanks to "The Witches" star's volunteerism and work as a narrator of a hard-hitting video expose about how great apes suffer in the entertainment industry, the top 10 advertising agencies in the U.S. have adopted policies to stop using chimps in their ads.

  A PETA spokesperson says, "The actor sent her video to agency chiefs across the country, showing them exactly how great apes are torn away from their mothers shortly after birth and frequently beaten during training to perform in ads for companies such as Dodge, Europcar, Pfizer, Samsung, and Travelers Insurance, all of which pulled their ads after talks with PETA."

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  Representative Wendy Wegner adds, "Anjelica Huston is a true friend to all animals and the perfect choice for PETA's Person of the Year 2012."

  Huston also spoke out against New York's controversial horse-drawn carriage industry in 2012 and campaigned against the use of fur as a style item -- even though she was once a slave to fur fashions.

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  She says, "I grew up in Ireland and used to wear fur. I had a change of heart when I learned how minks and foxes on fur farms are crammed into tiny, dirty cages and driven so crazy by the confinement that many ... cannibalize their cage mates."

  Previous PETA Persons of the Year include Bill Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres and Russell Simmons.