Climbing to the second-most streamed spot on Netflix, the hit new documentary “Pamela, a Love Story” is letting “Baywatch” icon and vegan bombshell Pamela Anderson explain what her life, stardom, and activism have meant to her — including all her animal advocacy work with PETA. But what it doesn’t show is the splash that Anderson made in the Philippines after launching Tagalog versions of advertisements to promote vegan living with her “All Animals Have the Same Parts” and “Turn Over a New Leaf” PSAs.

Between spelling out that other animals have the same flesh, blood, and feelings as human beings and sporting a lettuce bikini to inspire healthier and kinder compassionate eating, Anderson’s local activism with PETA Asia has even reached Malacañang Palace. In 2013, the honorary PETA U.S. director penned a letter offering to meet the president to discuss the transfer of Mali, an ailing elephant in Manila Zoo, to a reputable sanctuary. As she explains in the documentary, “Activism is sexy. You have to be brave and you gotta use what you got.”

Pamela Anderson
Credit: PETA Asia

“From the Philippines to her home country of Canada, Pamela Anderson has made her mark advocating for abused animals,” says PETA Asia Senior Vice President Jason Baker. “While the rest of us probably won’t end up on the cover of Playboy or playing lifeguards, we can all look to emulate Pamela in the way that matters most: by speaking up for animals whenever and wherever they need us.”

Anderson’s other efforts with PETA Asia include urging Chinese leader Xi Jinping to block the import of baby elephants from Zimbabwe, pushing China Southern Airlines to stop shipping monkeys to their deaths in laboratories, and pressuring Russia to scrap plans to capture wild orcas and beluga whales to place in captivity.

PETA Asia — whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAAsia.com or follow the group on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.