The Brigitte Bardot Foundation has written an open letter to the French High Commissioner in Tahiti urging him to stop the illegal trade and consumption of dog meat.
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The former actress said a ban introduced in 1959 was being ignored and quoted a report by Tahiti Pacifique magazine, which claimed dog meat, just like turtle meat, was being consumed by politicians, officials and even police officers.
Brigitte Bardot said it was shameful that in a French territory, a global tourism paradise, the trade and practice had continued under the very nose of the authorities.
While it was disturbing that part of the population ignored the law, it was inadmissible if that was done by public officials, she said.
She called for the new High Commissioner Dominique Sorain to put an end to the scandal and enforce the law.
Bardot said after she denounced the situation in the magazine Paris Match in 1989, it was not distributed in French Polynesia for fear of damaging the tourism industry.
