The Inspirational Brigitte Bardot Foundation, with Christophe Marie (vegan), Part 1 of 2

Brigitte Bardot is a remarkable animal-people activist from France. During her professional career, she was a well-known actor, singer, and model. However, in her late 30s, Ms. Bardot decided to leave her highly successful career and dedicate her life to helping animal-people. She is the founder and president of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation (BBF), an organization dedicated to stopping all forms of abuse towards animal-people, both in France and internationally.

On today’s program, we meet Christophe Marie, a long-time vegan, animal-people rights activist, author, and the deputy director of the BBF. Mr. Marie shares with us about Brigitte Bardot and her many achievements through the Foundation, such as Ms. Bardot’s first campaign that began in 1962, after seeing photographs of innocent, helpless animal-people being ruthlessly murdered in slaughterhouses.

Ms. Bardot’s next highly successful campaign was for the people from the seal kingdom. She travelled to Canada in both 1977 and 1986, determined to have this abominable, archaic practice banned. “So, we went there to try to meet the Prime Minister (of Canada), but he refused. But on the way back, we were received by Stavros Dimas, who at the time was European Commissioner for the Environment, in Brussels, to make absolutely sure that Europe adopts a ban on importing all skins of pinnipeds, that is, seals and sea lions. And it is a bill that he proposed which was then legislated by the Parliament and the Council of Europe for the ban, an embargo on all these skins. And that had an immediate effect. There was a quota of 350,000 to 400,000 seals to be killed each year in Canada. And in the end, this ban saves more than 300,000 seals each year.”

“In 1987, Brigitte Bardot sold all her possessions, well the most precious ones, to create this Foundation. And at the time of this auction, she declared that she was giving her wisdom and the best of herself to the animals.”

Supreme Master Ching Hai: “Thankfully present the Shining World Compassion Award to Brigitte Bardot, for dedicating your life to protecting and caring for thousands of helpless, innocent animal-people, plus US$15,000 as a humble token of loving support for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, with all love, respect and gratitude. May Heaven bless you abundantly with continued success.”