Actor Wanted His Dog Put Down, Buried With Him

French actor Alain Delon died this week at age 88. His dog Loubo, however, will go on living. This is the subject of headlines because of a bizarre request Delon made a few years before he died—that the now 10-year-old Belgian malinois be euthanized and buried with him, reports the Guardian. The dog, pictured here, is healthy. "If I die before him, I'll ask the vet to take us away together," Delon said in a 2018 interview. "He'll put him to sleep in my arms. I'd rather do that than know that he'll let himself die on my grave with so much suffering."

Delon's children will not honor the request, says the Bridget Bardot Foundation, per AFP. "I've just had (daughter) Anouchka Delon on the phone and she has told me that Loubo is part of the family and will be kept," says a foundation spokesperson. "The dog will not be put down." It's not clear whether the family ever seriously entertained the idea, but the very possibility had raised the concerns of animal rights supporters in France. Delon was by all accounts a great dog lover, and he said in the 2018 interview that he felt a special connection with Loubo. (More dogs stories.)