Coronation Street star Cait Fitton slammed for animal cruelty as she RIDES a dolphin on holiday
CORONATION Street’s Cait Fitton has been slammed for animal cruelty on holiday – after sharing a snap of herself riding a dolphin.
Cait, 23, best known for playing Lauren Bolton on the ITV soap, posted a slew of shots from her tropical getaway to the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.
It included an Instagram Story where she was seen in the sea, appearing to ride a dolphin.
One of the snaps, from outside Dolphin Island Park in Punta Cana, was captioned: “Such a surreal experience. Pictures pending …. Swim with dolphins in the wild.”
In another, she kissed the mammal – joined by her boyfriend, Tony.
But her posts have sparked outrage online, with animal rights charity PETA slamming the experience as exploitative and cruel.
In a statement to The Sun, PETA’s Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen said: “PETA is rushing Cait a copy of The Cove, as she simply can’t be aware that dolphins exploited for these cute-seeming encounters are often violently torn away from their families and ocean homes and have almost no semblance of a real life.
“Instead of exploring, raising their young, and swimming vast distances, captive dolphins are forced to spend decades performing confusing tricks in cramped tanks while being fondled by strangers.
“We hope PETA’s facts will open her eyes to the dolphins’ plight and that she’ll take down any social media pictures promoting this cruel industry, which imprisons wild animals for profit.”
Cait’s representatives have been contacted for comment.
While dolphin experiences remain popular with tourists, animal welfare groups have long warned that the practice often involves keeping highly intelligent creatures in unnatural, confined environments.
It was just two weeks ago that Cait went Instagram official with her new boyfriend, praising her man for “blessing my life”.
The actress posted a gushing tribute to her other-half in a series of social media slides celebrating his 23th birthday.
Cait had teased her mystery man weeks ago, after telling fans she’d received a Jellycat cuddly toy gift from “my boyfriend”.
She later returned the favour, arranging for a series of 23-shaped silver balloons to fill his room as well as a happy birthday banner.
Cait added the sweet caption: “A day celebrating you.”
Deciding not to name her partner, she then posted a series of snaps showing happy moments together, including them glammed up as well as holding hands.
Cait then wrote: “Happy birthday to my man.
“Thank you for blessing my life.”
The soap star, who joined the show back in 2022, previously decided against revealing her partner’s identity.
OFF SCREEN
Cait’s life away from the Weatherfield cobbles recently came to light.
She is originally from Lancashire and ventured into performing arts at the age of three.
While it’s clear Cait has a talent when it comes to acting, having also starred in Doctors, she’s also a great singer.
She previously wowed her followers online after posting a clip of her singing a rendition of Ben E. King’s Stand By Me.
Cait always had her sights set on Coronation Street, previously telling us she told her entire class in school how she wanted a role on the ITV soap.
She spoke exclusively to The Sun and said: “The teacher asked us, ‘What do you want to be when you’re older?’ Children were saying ‘a fireman’ or ‘a nurse’, and I said, ‘I want to be in Coronation Street’.
“I remember all the teachers were amused, they couldn’t believe it. I watched it religiously.”
When she announced her role on Corrie, Cait paid tribute to the family members she’s sadly lost over the years.
She wrote: “My younger self is screaming right now!!! I want to say a big thank you to all the cast and crew at @coronationstreet for inviting me in with open arms and making me feel so welcome!
“Thank you to my amazing agent Brooke Kinsella at @intertalentactors for constantly supporting me and always pushing me to achieve.”
Remembering family members who have passed on, she continued: “Also a massive thank you to my family and friends who have supported me throughout this process and been with me along the journey so far! I dedicate this role of achievement to my family who were huge fans of the show but unfortunately are no longer with me, but I know if they were, they’d be bursting at the seams!”
