To read on substack: https://substack.com/home/post/p-182806305

Bridget Bardot was defined in the 1950s and 1960s by her on-screen and off-screen uninhibited sexuality, voluptuous figure, and tousled blond hair. In 1973 she abruptly left acting, saying “I gave my beauty and my youth to men, and now I am giving my wisdom and experience, the best of me, to animals. . . I don’t care about my past glory. That means nothing in the face of an animal that suffers, since it has no power, no words to defend itself.”

While indifferent to her past, Bardot leveraged her fame to advance awareness of and reforms in animal welfare. Her contributions in the field include establishing the Fondation Brigitte Bardot for the Welfare and Protection of Animals; filing thousands of investigations and lawsuits against animal cruelty; lobbying for legislation against factory farming, slaughterhouse practices, the pet trade, religious ritualized slaughter, fur trapping and hunting, foie gras practices, and animal experimentation; opposing bullfighting, horse racing, and horse slaughter; advocating for dog meat bans in South Korea; funding shelters, spay/neuter programs, and wildlife rehabilitation centers; traveling to the Arctic to bring attention to the clubbing of baby harp seals; and promoting vegetarianism (originally) and then veganism.

In an essay in Ingrid E. Newkirk’s book One Can Make a Difference, Bardot wrote, “Young people are always a hope. More of them must realize that the animal is not an object for profit, not a toy for our amusement, hunted for sport, not something to be cut up for his fur. They may see that the animal has the right to live, just as we have the right to live. We, the animals, the plants are the whole, and the whole makes a chain, and if we break that chain, all of humanity will pay.”

Compassion in Action:

SPCA International (←please click to learn more about what this worthy organization is doing) – The winter is harsh, and countless dogs and cats are shivering, weak, and alone. Their goal is to save as many lives as possible. Your gift can make it happen.