'My end of life dog': Delon's plan to have pet killed and buried with him is vetoed by family

The late French actor Alain Delon's wish that his pet dog be put down and buried with him has been rejected by his children after an outcry from animal rights campaigners.

- Kim Willsher

The actor, who died aged 88 on Sunday, had said he wished the animal, a 10-year-old Belgian malinois called Loubo, to be "put to sleep" and laid in his grave in the cemetery at his home in the village of Douchy in the department of Loiret.

Yesterday, after activists expressed dismay at the prospect of a healthy animal being put down and offered to find the dog a new home, it was announced Loubo would live.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation said Delon's daughter, Anouchka, had confirmed the family would keep the dog. "I've just had Anouchka Delon on the phone and she has told me that Loubo is part of the family and will be kept. The dog will not be put down," a foundation spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, sparking some confusion, the foundation had announced on social media the dog would be spared before deleting the posts. The SPA, France's equivalent of the RSPCA, was among a number of animal organisations that had expressed concern at Delon's declared wish for his companion to be put down, writing: "The life of an animal should not depend on that of a human. The SPA is happy to take his dog and find it a family."