Ellen DeGeneres in The Dog House For Giving Away Adopted Dog

Prada's Meadow

Prada's Meadow

Member
Jan 23, 2006
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#1
LOS ANGELES — Ellen DeGeneres is in the doghouse with a pet rescue agency after giving a pooch away to her hairdresser because it didn't get along with her cats.

The talk show hostess and her partner Portia de Rossi adopted Iggy, a Brussels Griffon mix, on Sept. 20. But when things did not work out, DeGeneres gave the dog to her hairdresser.
In doing so, DeGeneres violated an agreement with the Mutts and Moms agency by not informing them of the handoff.
When the agency called DeGeneres to ask about Iggy, she said she found another home for the dog. The agency sent a representative to the hairdresser's home Sunday and took the dog away.
DeGeneres went public with the doggy ordeal Monday while taping an episode of her show to air Tuesday. She admitted she didn't read all the paperwork involving the adoption.
DeGeneres said she spent $3,000 having the dog neutered and trained to be with her cats. But the dog had too much energy and was too rambunctious, she told her television audience.
"I guess I signed a piece of paper that says if I can't keep Iggy, it goes back to the rescue organization, which is not someone's home, which is not a family," she said in a show transcript provided to The Associated Press.
"I thought I did a good thing. I tried to find a loving home for the dog because I couldn't keep it."

DeGeneres said her hairdresser's daughters, ages 11 and 12, had bonded with Iggy and were heartbroken when the dog was taken away.
"Because I did it wrong, those people went and took that dog out of their home, and took it away from those kids," a sobbing DeGeneres said on her show.
"I feel totally responsible for it and I'm so sorry. I'm begging them to give that dog back to that family. I just want the family to have their dog. It's not their fault. It's my fault. I shouldn't have given the dog away. Just please give the dog back to those little girls."
Mutts and Moms, a volunteer nonprofit organization in Pasadena, does not have a listed phone number and didn't immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.



Foxnews
 
#3
hmm well, when I have looked into adopting from a rescue they ask what will happen if you cannot keep the dog...on the questionaire they make you fill out to see if you will be a fit parent, and the correct answer is to take the dog back. However I don't think she did a bad thing if the dog will be well taken care of and loved by its new owners.
 
#4
This is the exactly why rescue agencies have this rule. People think they want a pet, then change their minds when things don't work out perfectly from the beginning and pass the pet along to other people. Often the poor animal ends up in another shelter or rescue. She only adopted the dog on Sept. 20th, so I find it hard to believe she really spent $3,000 on training unless she got ripped off. It's only been a couple weeks, so she didn't give the dog much of a chance.

It's a shame the kids had to suffer losing the dog, but like she said, it was her fault.
 
#5
Maybe they need to look at it on a case by case basis, but the reason why rescues have this rule is because adopters who pass on the unwanted dog normally don't screen the new owners thoroughly. This may be different, but there's a reason for consistency and there shouldn't be a precedent set. Most rescue groups go through a thorough screening process after evaluating dozens on applications which is alot of work (and sometimes do a home visit) and there may have been a wonderful family who would have been a better match for the dog, rather than just a loving family. If it had been a 3-4 pound pomeranian, most rescues won't even adopt him/her to a family with small children because of their tiny size and children not understanding they're fragile. It's not easy adopting a dog from rescue due to the criteria for certain dogs so it's only appropriate giving the dog back when it doesn't work out. Then, anyone could adopt a dog for their friends and family who would may have otherwise been considered unsuitible for that particular breed.

I like Ellen and I know her heart was in the right place, but when on the air, she should recognize why the rescue group made the choice to take him back. It's only for the welfare of the dog and for future dogs who are given away to unscreened adopters. It can turn into handing dogs off to just anybody. I commend the group for following up.
 
#6
I also wanted to say that 3000 for 2-3 weeks is a ripoff and not enough time to give the animals a chance to get used to each other. Rather than spend that much money for training to get along with her cats (I'm not counting the neutering since that should have been a fraction of the cost), she should have decided to find another dog that fit her household better and the dog could have been adopted to someone without cats. That 3000 could have fed alot of homeless animals.

Most rescue dogs are fostered by loving volunteers in their homes before finding their forever families, not just thrown into a kennel like ellen implied when having to return the dog.
 
#7
Prada's Meadow said:
But the dog had too much energy and was too rambunctious, she told her television audience.
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:tdown: This is the LAZIEST reason to give up a dog. If a dog has too much energy, that means you haven't exercised it enough. If she is spending all that money, she should have bought a dog runner (not walker). We had the SAME problem with that beauty in my avatar and my cat, but now that she gets run for 45 minutes in the morning and at night and crated in the day... we are a happy little family. :tup: And I didn't have to give her away (even when the trainer, after hearing my sob story, said "some people just aren't a good fit with certain dogs".)

So if your kid is rambunctious do you just give it away?? No, you chanel their energy into productive activities. Although some parents just stick them on Ridalin when they don't really need it, but that is another topic for another thread ;).
 
#9
On Ellen's website, she posted about this incident in her own words:

"People say to me a lot how do you do this show if you’re in a bad mood? How do you do your show if you’re sad or, don’t you have bad days? I’m a human being and I have bad days and I have sad days. But when I walk out here and you all cheer and when you’re here to dance, you’re here to laugh and I know I make people happy. It changes my mood. I come out here and I can do anything because of the energy I get."

read the rest here: http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2007/10/iggy.php

here is a pic of Iggy
iggy.jpg
 
#10
Ellen had brought a tiny Morkie from one of those puppy mill designer dog sites last feb or so, and brought it on stage which only added to the puppymill teacup craze. I thought it was hers. Why does she no longer have that one? Maybe she should stick to cats.

**So I just read her explanation on the link above. If the dog had been at her hairdressers for two weeks, she paid 3000 for *maybe* 1.5 weeks of training? It's may be a puppy who is just hyper because he's a baby and wants to play. There are calmer dogs who are better fits for people, which is why some potential owners have a criteria on what they want.
 
#11
But its a bit sad that they took the dog away from those two kids!!! The organization should have left the dog, seeing as it was in no immediate danger (or danger in general), and reinterview the new family. Why take the dog away from a loving home and two kids to put it in a cold kennel.
BTW, the lady from the organization waited two hours in the family's yard just to take the dog...come on - are u serious?! Apparently the dog didnt want to leave, leave it alone.
 
#12
azhangie said:
Why take the dog away from a loving home and two kids to put it in a cold kennel.
BTW, the lady from the organization waited two hours in the family's yard just to take the dog...come on - are u serious?! Apparently the dog didnt want to leave, leave it alone.
Click to expand...

Although it should have been handled differently (and maybe it was, but the rescue group should make a statement), why do people think rescue dogs are in cold kennels?? I know the groups on my area keeps dogs in foster homes with loving families who keep the dogs as if their own. Because they're non-profit, most don't even have the money for facilities. NOAH in our area was given a million dollar plus donation to build a new facility and it's a warm, caring environment. It's nothing like a shelter where they also euthanize dogs. This is a prime example of someone taking Ellen's words to heart. It's disheartening when people have that myth, and only discredits rescue groups who are out there for the welfare of dogs.
 
#13
surferchick2 said:
Although it should have been handled differently (and maybe it was, but the rescue group should make a statement).
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This is my problem with the story. Ellen uses her show as a platform to present her version of what happened and that's all we get to hear. No journalist is going to bother interviewing the rescue volunteers to get their take on it, because frankly we live in a culture where people only care what celebrities say and do. I have a lot more respect for the people working in animal rescue groups than for pampered celebrities who can't handle a small, energetic dog for two weeks.
 
#14
So she made a mistake. She thought she was doing a good thing. Give the dog back to this family for god sakes. This is assinine. Now they are going to have to find another home for him. Just give it to the family and everyone is happy.
 
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