The year was 1989. Grandpa Bush moved into the White House. Actor/dolphin protector Hayden Panettiere was born. And most Americans had never even heard of the Internet.

That same year, experiments were initiated at the University of Wisconsin in which rhesus monkeys were crammed into tiny, barren metal cages, slated to spend their entire lives as experiments in order to study the effects of diet on aging.

Fast-forward to 2009: These highly social animals are still isolated in cages—they've been there for two decades. One half of the population of 76 monkeys has been deliberately underfed for the past 20 years. All of them have been unable to take more than a step or two in any direction since arriving at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and—if researchers have their way—all these monkeys will continue to suffer until they die, which could take another 15 years.

supercentenarian / CC

The results of this experiment: After years of starvation, the "calorie-restricted" animals looked "less wrinkled and flabby."

The senior author of this grossly inhumane study, University of Wisconsin-Madison's Richard Weindruch, is blatantly ignoring the positive effects of exercise on the human heart, bone health, and body weight. And dozens of highly social, active animals have been condemned to a lifetime of isolation, without even the simplest yet meaningful benefit of cagemates, because of it. So, we've filed a complaint with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture stating that the positive health effects of caloric restriction have already been confirmed in short-term human trials and that the suffering endured by these monkeys is not justified by the perceived benefit of the experiment.

Posted by Karin Bennett

bartcop / CC

Hayden Panettiere's alter-ego on Heroes may be indestructible, but in real life, the actor has a soft spot for animals.

You may remember that Hayden is a vegetarian who fought for dolphins in Japan a couple of years ago. Well, the pint-sized star once again proved that she has a huge heart for animals by intervening in behalf of birds on the Heroes set. When some birds in a nearby tree disrupted filming, a member of the crew reportedly attempted to disperse them by blasting them with a huge leaf blower. That didn't sit well with Hayden, who apparently sprang into action, shouting, "What are you doing? How would you like someone to blow that thing inside your house?" She made such a ruckus that the crew had no choice but to move the scene to a different location.

Kudos to you, Hayden, for always standing up for what's right (and for kicking butt and taking names on my fave show). Milo, you'd best be good to our lady!

Posted by Christine Doré

Hayden Panettiere (the star of NBC’s Heroes), was so outraged about the hideous dolphin cull taking place in Japan right now that she went out herself to try and put a stop to it. Along with five of her friends, Hayden paddled out on a surfboard in an attempt to stop a pod of dolphins from reaching a cove where the Japanese fishermen were waiting to slaughter them, but was violently deterred by the men on the fishing boats, who used hooks and the boats’ propellers to stop her from reaching the animals. Here’s what she said about the situation:

"Some of us were hit by the boathook. But in the end all we really worried about was the dolphins. It was so incredibly sad. We were so close to them and they were sky hopping, jumping out of the water to see us. One little baby dolphin stuck his head out and kinda looked at me and the thought that it's no longer with us is really hard to take."

PETA is sending her a Compassionate Citizen award for her incredible bravery and her dedication to helping animals in need. I hate to have to use the obvious pun here, but you’re a hero, Hayden. Keep up the great work.

There’s more on this story, as well as footage of the horrific dolphin slaughter, on Sky News.