"We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim,…

“We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could” is a vegan saying that has been printed on many images.

“On yet another (poster—ed.), James Cromwell of ‘Babe’ fame hugs a pig. ‘We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could,’ reads the caption” was printed in the Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution on December 12, 1999. American actor James Cromwell starred in the movie Babe (1995) about a pig raised as livestock who wants to do the work of a sheepdog. The poster was promoted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Wikipedia: James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American character actor and activist. Some of his more notable films include Babe (1995), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Green Mile (1999), Space Cowboys (2000), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), The Queen (2006), W. (2008), Secretariat (2010), The Artist (2011), and Still Mine (2012).

Wikipedia: Babe (film)
Babe is a 1995 comedy-drama film directed by Chris Noonan, produced by George Miller, written by both, narrated by Roscoe Lee Browne, and starring James Cromwell and Magda Szubanski with the voices of Christine Cavanaugh, Miriam Margolyes, Hugo Weaving, and Danny Mann. It is an adaptation of Dick King-Smith’s 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the US, which tells the story of a pig raised as livestock who wants to do the work of a sheepdog. The main animal characters are played by a combination of real and animatronic pigs and Border Collies.

Newspapers.com
12 December 1999, Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution, “Meet the meat-haters” by Bill Hendrick, pg. M1, col. 5:
On yet another (poster—ed.), James Cromwell of “Babe” fame hugs a pig. “We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could,” reads the caption.

Google Books
Facilitator’s Manual for the Class of Nonviolence
By Susan Ives
San Antonio, TX: peaceCENTER
2007
Pg. 152:
We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could.
James Cromwell

Twitter
Earthlings Movie
@EarthlingsMovie
We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could. - James Cromwell
3:57 PM · Jul 22, 2009·Twitter Web Client

Twitter
Vegan Vox
@vgnvox
We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could.
-Anon
7:53 AM · Apr 17, 2020·Vegan Vox

Twitter
Vegan Seedling
@Vegan_24
“We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could.” James Cromwell
12:44 PM · Aug 26, 2020·Twitter for Android

Twitter
Vegan Posters
@veganposters
We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could. - Anon #vegan
12:46 PM · Oct 16, 2020·VeganPosters