Celebrating Animal Rights Activist Brigitte Bardot's Birthday Today: Message and biographical archival material from Zeena

In a clandestine operation on the Full Moon, February 28 of 1991, eighty Mongolian wolves were freed from a fur farm in Hungary and transported by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation to safe refuge in France. I was among the volunteers who cared for the wolves during their overnight stay at the Salzburg Zoo.

Only two weeks after that wolf rescue, there was an editorial in The European newspaper glorifying the glamour of celebrities who die young, while at the same time decrying likes of Brigitte Bardot as a bitter old has-been, animal rights nut-case (presumably because she didn't kick the bucket prematurely, like the other youthfully deceased celebrities listed in the article). After having witnessed the genuinely selfless efforts by the Bardot Foundation, which made a lasting impression on me, I felt compelled to write a rebuttal (a scan of the original letter is at the end of this post).

Bardot had long been an inspiration to me; a woman with principles and compassion who turned her back on celebrity status to focus on animal liberation. The journalist's name has been removed. However, my respect for Mme. Bardot and the sentiments expressed in my letter remain as strong if not stronger today.

The below quote describes the moment Bardot knew what her life's mission was to be:

„Durante un film, sul set c'era una capretta. La proprietaria mi ha detto 'si sbrighi a finire la sua scena, perché domenica è la comunione di mio nipote e dobbiamo farla allo spiedo'. Ho comprato la bestiola e l'ho portata con me, attaccata a una corda, nell'hotel a cinque stelle. Me la sono portata in camera, che scandalo. Quel giorno ho preso la decisione di smettere con il cinema e di aiutare gli animali. Era il giugno 1973, avevo 38 anni.“. --Brigitte Bardot

“During a film, there was a little goat on the set. The owner told me 'hurry up and finish the scene, because Sunday is my nephew's communion and we have to cook it on the spit.' I bought the animal and took it with me, attached to a rope, to the five-star hotel. I took it to my room, what a scandal. That day I made the decision to stop cinema and help animals. It was June 1973, I was 38 years old. ". --Brigitte Bardot

​To an amazingly strong and dignified woman who has survived many storms and saved many sentient beings' lives:  May she have the very best of birthdays!

​-Om Mani Padme Hum-
​
​Zeena 

Note: More about the wolf rescue is in BEATDOM #11: The Nature Issue

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