Brigitte Bardot reportedly struggled with motherhood and later spoke about the difficult relationship she had with her son.

Bardot’s interest in animal welfare had already become publicly visible before she retired. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation’s own history dates one important stage of her advocacy to 1962, when she publicly challenged cruel slaughter practices affecting animals used for food. In 1977, she traveled onto the ice in Canada in a highly publicized campaign concerning the killing of young seals. Photographs from that campaign became some of the most memorable images from her life after cinema. Her fame, which had once made her uncomfortable, now became something she could use to draw attention toward causes that otherwise received much less international coverage. She had effectively transformed celebrity from a burden into a tool. Animal protection increasingly replaced movies as the defining mission of her later life.

In 1986, Bardot formally created the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. The organization was established to protect both domestic and wild animals and eventually developed operations extending far beyond France. In 1992, it received official recognition in France as a foundation of public utility. Bardot made major personal financial commitments to help establish and support the organization, including donating property connected with its development. The foundation later opened shelters and supported animal-protection initiatives internationally. Its official information says its work ultimately extended into around 70 countries. This means Bardot’s second career lasted considerably longer than her acting career and developed into a substantial international organization.

By the time of Bardot’s death, her foundation employed hundreds of people and worked with large numbers of volunteers and investigators. It operated shelters while participating in rescue work, public advocacy and international partnerships. Its campaigns addressed issues including hunting, fur, animal performances and mistreatment of domestic animals. Bardot herself remained strongly associated with these causes for decades. Whatever opinions people held about other parts of her public life, her sustained commitment to animal welfare was one of the clearest constants of her later years. The foundation stated after her death that it intended to continue the work she created. In that sense, her animal-protection legacy remained institutional rather than depending entirely upon her personal presence.