Bardot's anger over Romanian dogs

Former screen goddess Bardot is fighting to save stray dogs

PARIS, France -- Former actress Brigitte Bardot has lashed out at the mayor of Bucharest after he passed a death sentence on tens of thousands of stray dogs.

Bardot, who is now an animal rights activist, wrote to the mayor, Traian Basescu, calling on him to change his mind.

"Only imbeciles never change their minds, so I hope that you will reverse your cruel decision and prove that you can be humane and honest," Bardot wrote to Basescu.

Bardot also accused the mayor of having "tricked her" after she donated $140,000 to support a dog-adoption campaign and to have stray dogs sterilised rather than put down.

Basescu, who is determined to rid the city of an estimated 200,000 stray dogs, says the policy has failed. He gave officials the order last week to start killing animals in the city's pounds.

"I trusted you, but you tricked me," Bardot wrote in the letter released by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. "You are running Bucharest by tyranny ... you don't deserve the job you hold."

Romanian authorities blame the dog problem on late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who demolished tens of thousands of homes, forcing people to move into cramped apartment blocks, abandoning their dogs.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation: Sommaire

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