She’s SeaWorld’s worst nightmare — and she’s only 12.
Rose McCoy of Tribeca has stood up for animal rights since the first grade — rescuing chicks from a school study and last year protesting the Ringling Bros. Circus at the Barclays Center.
Now she’s on a mission to tank SeaWorld as it battles bad publicity from “Blackfish,” a CNN documentary on the lives of orcas at its theme parks.
“SeaWorld is on its last leg and won’t be able to survive much longer,” Rose told The Post. “Beating down on them now won’t give them time to recover.”
The seventh-grade honors student was arrested at the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1 after darting in front of a SeaWorld float with her mom and 17 other protesters.
Rose’s mom, Emily McCoy, 48, was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a Pasadena city spokesman said.
The Los Angeles County DA declined to prosecute, and the case was referred to the city attorney for “misdemeanor filing.”
Rose says she begged her mom to fly her out to California for the protest.
But back home, some neighbors bashed the family’s antics.
“The poor child is being used like a pawn,” a commenter wrote on the Tribeca Citizen blog. “To me that is the real crime. Let your children be children and make their own decisions.”
Emily McCoy, a vegan activist since before Rose was born, shrugged it off.
“It’s funny when people comment who don’t know her or us,” she said. “Rose is a very strong-willed, smart kid. She wants to do what she’s doing.”
In November, Rose made headlines after jumping a barricade at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to wave a “Boycott SeaWorld” sign. Police escorted her back to her mom not a minute later.
“SeaWorld has actually done us favors by advertising themselves,” Rose said. “It’s not going to grab attention if people are standing outside the parks. When it’s something dramatic and people are interfering with parades . . . it gives them bad p.r.”
Rose doesn’t plan to stop fighting for killer whales. She and her classmates at the Clinton School for Writers and Artists in Chelsea have formed the school’s first animal-rights club and plan to spread awareness of “Blackfish.”
“She’s been active since she was born,” McCoy said. “I have to remind myself all the time that she’s a kid, because it’s like talking to another adult.”
At age 9, Rose presented a petition at a McDonald’s shareholders meeting requesting the chain humanely slaughter animals. She also spoke before the City Council on horse carriages and appeared in the HBO documentary, “An Apology to Elephants.”
A vegan, Rose also donates half of her “cat-sitting” money to spay/neuter programs. She has received awards from PETA and accolades from actors Alec Baldwin and Alicia Silverstone.
When Ringling Bros. returns to the Barclays Center Feb. 20, she’ll distribute fliers on cruelty to elephants and circus animals.
“People will look bad if they refuse a leaflet from a kid, so it’s kind of a secret weapon to get my message across,” Rose said.