EXCLUSIVE: 'Girl Meet's World's August Maturo Raises His Voice for Orcas in New PETA Kids Video -- Watch

August Maturo is the latest celebrity to use his platform to shed light on a cause he believes in.

While Auggie‘s Girl Meets World co-star Rowan Blanchard has become more and more outspoken for women’s rights, the 9-year-old star wants his voice to be heard for a cause that’s very important to him: animal rights.

JustJaredJr. readers are the first people to get to see Auggie‘s public service announcement (aka PSA) for PETA Kids.

And we asked him all about it:

JJJ: How did you get involved with this PETA Kids campaign?

August: Well, the great people from PETA asked what would be my wish for animals for 2017, and I told them I wish that SeaWorld would release their orcas. I asked if there was anything I could do to help, and they came up with this idea for a video.

JJJ: That sounds like an important cause for you?

August: Yeah. It is important to me to use my voice for animals, because I love them and they can’t speak for themselves. They are sweet and innocent and don’t deserve to be tortured.

JJJ: Have you always been an animal lover?

August: Yes, ever since I was a baby, I always refused to eat meat, even though my whole family would eat it. It always felt wrong to me. I’ve finally convinced my mom to become a vegetarian, too. She hasn’t eaten meat for a year!

JJJ: What do you hope fans take away from this video?

August: I want people to know that animals do not deserve to be tortured just so people can be entertained. You would never keep a child locked in a small room, and whales belong in the ocean, not in a tiny tank. I hope people stop paying to watch animals being abused, and I hope they tell Sea World to #emptythetanks.

Watch August‘s chilling public service announcement for PETA Kids below: