Story courtesy of NY Daily News:
An Oscar-nominated actor who burst into a university board meeting to protest its alleged torture of cats for scientific research has been arrested.
Footage posted online shows James Cromwell, who played farmer Arthur Hoggett in “Babe,” marching into a University of Wisconsin classroom.
Holding up a sign, which allegedly shows a cat in a UW-Madison laboratory with metal implanted in its head, he shouts: "This is not science. This is torture. This is criminal."
Jeremy Beckham, a spokesman for the animal rights organization PETA, joined him in the stunt and fell to the floor as he screamed his protests.
Their action came after PETA claimed that 30 cats were starved, deafened or decapitated at the university each year, an allegation that has been denied.
The pair was escorted from the room in handcuffs and booked at a nearby police station.
TMZ reports they are likely to be charged with disorderly conduct.
The director of the UW-Madison Research Animal Resources Center released a statement following the protest.
It read: "Today's events are just another attempt by outside activists to draw attention to a cause.
"They have attacked and distorted this research — which has very real benefits for people who are deaf — from every angle imaginable.
"Exhaustive independent investigation by the USDA, which regulates the use of animals in research, concluded that PETA's allegations are baseless."
Cromwell, 73, is best known for his part in 1995's “Babe,” the film adaptation of Dick King-Smith's novel “The Sheep-Pig.”
The Los Angeles native's 35-year career also saw him play George H.W. Bush in “W,” Warden Rudolph Hazen in “The Longest Yard” and Prince Philip in “The Queen.”
