The children of the late French actor Alain Delon have reversed their wish to have his dog euthanised and buried with him, following a mass protest by animal rights activists.
The legendary actor, who died on Sunday aged 88, said he wanted Loubo, his 10-year-old Belgian Malinois, to be put down and buried with him in the cemetery at his home in the village of Douchy in north-central France.
But animal rights groups were outraged at the idea of a healthy animal being euthanized.
France’s SPA, the equivalent of the RSPCA, was one of many groups furious with the Plein Soleil actor’s decision.
“The life of an animal should not depend on that of a human being. The SPA is delighted to welcome your dog and find him a family.”
Delon said of Loubo (pictured) in 2018: “I love him like a child.”
Alain Delon (pictured with another dog in 2014) said he wanted Loubo, his now 10-year-old Belgian Malinois, to be put down and buried with him.
Alain Delon’s family (pictured) said they would keep Loubo alive, against his father’s wishes.
On Tuesday, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation said Delon’s daughter Anouchka had confirmed the family would keep the dog alive.
“I just spoke on the phone with Anouchka Delon and she told me that Loubo is part of the family and that he will stay with him. The dog will not be put down,” said a spokesman for the foundation.
Delon was a lifelong animal lover and built an animal cemetery at his home, which he purchased in the 1970s.
He buried the remains of 35 dogs that he had owned at different times in his life.
But he publicly stated that Loubo was always his favorite dog.
“He’s my dog at the end of his life… I love him like a son,” Delon told Paris Match in 2018.
“I’ve had 50 dogs in my life, but I have a special relationship with this one. He misses me when I’m not around.
Loubo is a Belgian Shepherd, also known as Malinois.
She will now be in the care of Delon’s children.
Delon was a lifelong animal lover and built an animal cemetery at his home, which he purchased in the 1970s.
When asked what animal he would like to be reincarnated as, he said in a 1996 television interview: “A Malinois.”
“If I die before him, I’ll ask the vet to take us together. He’ll put him to sleep in my arms. I’d rather do that than know he’ll let himself die in my grave in so much pain.”
When asked what animal he would like to be reincarnated as, he said in a 1996 television interview: “A Malinois.”
Last year, Anouchka posted a photo of Loubo on Instagram with the caption: “Wherever there is an unfortunate person, God sends a dog. Thank you, Loubo, for being there for your master.”
In March this year, she posted another photo of Loubo outside Delon’s house.
The caption read: ‘Guardian of the temple… With him there is no betrayal, no calculations, only love.’
Although Delon’s children treated their pets politely, they were also accused of treating their live-in mistress and caretaker in an “inhumane” manner.
Delon was one of the last living legends of a golden age of French cinema in the 1960s until his death on Sunday.
Delon’s three children were wary of Rollin and last year tried to evict her from the high-walled house in the central French town of Douchy (pictured).
Hiromi Rollin, 66, had been living part-time with the ailing Delon as his assistant and carer for about 17 years, but said the couple had been in love for three decades.
Hiromi Rollin, 66, had been living part-time with the ailing Delon as his assistant and carer for about 17 years, but said the couple had been in love for three decades.
The Japanese-born film worker said Monday that Delon’s three children – Alain-Fabien, Anouchka and Anthony – refused to let her see him after his death.
She had previously accused them of taking advantage of her father’s mental deterioration and said they evicted her from their home last July.
“We loved each other for 30 years. I lived with him for 17 and I was separated from Alain in an unjust, brutal and violent way,” she told French outlet Le Figaro, claiming that Delon’s children said she was nothing more than a housewife even though they knew “we shared the same bed.”
“His children didn’t even let me say goodbye to him. It’s inhumane,” he said.
This comes after a court previously dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Delon children against Rollin for abuse of a vulnerable person and harassment.
Anthony, 59, Anouchka, 33, and Alain-Fabien, 30, argued bitterly for years over their father’s medical treatment before his death.
Anouchka claimed Anthony, the eldest, aggressively bullied his father over his mental state after he suffered a stroke in 2019.
Alain Delon is pictured with his co-star Ursula Andress in the film Soleil Rouge
French actor Alain Delon receives a lifetime achievement award during an awards ceremony at the Locarno Film Festival on August 2, 2012
French actor Alain Delon waves as he arrives with his daughter Anouchka Delon to receive the honorary Palme d’Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 19, 2019.
Anthony, in turn, said Anouchka had tried to hide the damning results of Delon’s cognitive tests from the rest of the family.
But the three children were wary of Rollin and last year tried to evict her from the high-walled house in the central French town of Douchy where Delon spent his final years as a recluse.
When she left the Delon property for a trip last July, they filed a lawsuit against her and with the help of a private security company and the police banned her from entering the house upon her return.
Delon himself is said to have supported the suit, according to The Times, but he also confirmed that the couple had been lovers, contradicting their children’s claims.
Rollin and Delon met in 1992 on the set of Casanova, in which the actor played the title character and Rollin worked as an assistant director.
They cultivated a strong professional relationship that later became “intimate,” according to Delon himself.
As she grew older, Rollin became a live-in assistant and caregiver, but Delon described her as his “Japanese companion.”
Her children refused to acknowledge their relationship and claimed she was taking advantage of their father.