Officials with animal rights group People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are paying tribute to late Golden Girls star Bea Arthur, who died at her Los Angeles home on Saturday after a battle with cancer.

The actress, who was a tireless campaigner for PETA, became an honorary director for the organization.

“People have lost one of the greatest comic actresses of all time, and animals have lost one of their all-time greatest defenders. She will be missed,” PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews said in a statement Sunday.

Bea campaigned against the force-feeding of ducks in the foie gras trade. She called for a boycott of KFC until the fast food chain’s chiefs improved the way it raises and kills its chickens. Bea also lobbied against animal experimentation, spoke out about the abuse of animals on factory farms, and was a vocal opponent of the use of exotic animals in circuses.