(CNN) — Alain Delon, who died this week, clearly expressed his wish that his dog be killed and buried with him. His family says that will not happen.
The icon of French cinema had publicly expressed this wish in an interview with Paris Match magazine in 2018, describing the Belgian shepherd Loubo as his “dead” dog, whom he loved “like a child.”
“I’ve had 50 dogs in my life, but I have a very special relationship with this one,” Delon told the magazine. “If I die before him, I’ll ask the vet to take us away together. He’ll put him to sleep in my arms.”
Delon died on Sunday, August 18, at the age of 88. He suffered from B-cell lymphoma, a type of cancer, and had been in fragile health for a year.
Following criticism from French animal rights groups, Delon’s family confirmed on Tuesday that they would not comply with the actor’s controversial final wish.
The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, an animal welfare group, said in a post on X Tuesday that Delon’s relatives had confirmed that the dog “has his home and his family” and will not be euthanized.
Delon’s children told CNN affiliate BFMTV that the dog will continue to live at their father’s house in Douchy.
France’s largest animal welfare organization, the Society for the Protection of Animals, had publicly criticized the request and offered to find a home for the dog.
Loubo is believed to be the dog that played a role in a dispute last year between Delon’s children and Hiromi Rollin, a woman described as his partner. The three adult children filed a lawsuit accusing Rollin of being “degrading and aggressive” toward Delon and his children, of attempting to intercept his mail and phone messages, and of hitting his dog.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery company. All rights reserved.
Originally published:
