Late French film star Alain Delon wanted his dog buried with him. The dog gets to live

Before he died this week, French film icon Alain Delon once suggested he wanted his beloved sheepdog Loubo buried with him. To the relief of animal lovers around France, Loubo will be allowed to survive.

Delon, an internationally acclaimed and prolific actor and producer, died Sunday, aged 88, and will be buried on Saturday at his family home in Douchy, south of Paris.

He was quoted in a 2018 interview with Paris Match as saying he wanted Loubo, a Belgian Malinois he adopted in 2014, buried with him. “I’ve had 50 dogs in my life, but I have a particular relationship with this one,’’ he told the magazine. ”If I die before him, I’ll ask the veterinarian for us to leave together. … I’d prefer that to knowing that he would let himself die on my tomb amid so much suffering.’’

After Delon’s death, animal rights activists and concerned citizens raised the alarm about Loubo’s fate.

An official with the Brigitte Bardot Foundation — a prominent animal rights group founded by the famed French film star, who was close with Delon — said he contacted Delon’s family after foundation members expressed concern.