Have you read this story about Ellen DeGeneres and her once dog Iggy? It seems that Ellen received a dog from the Mutts and Moms dog rescue agency and gave the dog to her hairdresser when it didn’t get along with her cats.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres’ doggy drama intensified Tuesday when the agency that took the talk show host’s adopted dog back said they were keeping it.
The dog adopted by DeGeneres and later given to her hairstylist’s family in violation of an animal rescue agency’s rules will not be going back to the family, a spokesman said, amid threats of violence against the agency.
DeGeneres made a tearful plea on her talk show that aired Tuesday for the owners of Mutts and Moms to give Iggy, a Brussels Griffon mix terrier, back to her hairstylist’s family.
The dog was removed from the hairstylist’s home Sunday. The owners of Mutts and Moms claimed that DeGeneres violated the adoption agreement by not informing them that she was giving the dog away.
Read the full story here.
She signed a standard contract that everyone receiving a dog from a recue group is required to sign stating that if the dog did not work out for whatever reason it has to be returned to the rescue group.
Now the people that run the recue group are receiving “…voice- and e-mail threats of death and arson, and their Paws Boutique store in Pasadena was besieged by media Tuesday, disrupting business.”
This is just crazy and one more case of the media gone wild fueled by a “Celebrity.”
Larry
12 comments ↓
For a deeper understanding of “rescues” “placing” pets, check this out.
Thanks for the link Eli. This is an excellent article and one worth reading. It gives a different prospective to pet rescue and placement.
I could almost bet that a number of *us* (flyball, and dog sport owners) would be turned down by a majority of rescue orgs. We own too many dogs. We use crates. We use kennels. We work long hours (to support our dog habits). We don’t have kids for the dogs to play with (all grown…) Doesn’t matter that we give our dogs great care (so they can play with us), take them so many places, treat them as our best friends… Some rescues even dislike the fact that we DO ask the dog to *do something* FOR us, instead of letting them lounge on the couch. We just don’t meet *their* criteria.
Nice to see some are changing their minds, or are learning that all prospects don’t fit in their little confining boxes.
Dogs adapt to new situations better than people. Rather give them a chance at a new life, and even fail, than just kill them for lack of ANY suitable home, as determined by the current criteria many use.
(Yes there are rescuers that *know better*.. I know a couple of them… but I have met some of the others.)
I understand that Brussels Griffons (even mixes) are not suitable for children. Ellen is not an expert on breed types and should have told the rescue that she could not keep the dog and had found another home that may be suitable.
I think that Ellen knows this person as her hairdresser, but I highly doubt that she has been in her house regularly as a friend. How does she know that this type of dog would do well with children?
Ellen also adopted a dog, Oakland, a border collie, in 2003. Where is this dog now? I haven’t been able to substantiate it yet, but a friend of mine said it was taken in by Mutts and Moms when she didn’t want it anymore, that they came and got it. Seems she has a history of dogs not working out at her home.
…and I am remiss – the link to the Gina Spadafori blog was due to a reference in the Terrier Man’s blog.
This is a hard topic because I hear people complain all of the time about why they were turned down and often think it was a valid rejection. I’ve been really frustrated with one of our local shelters. They will not allow any herding breeds to be placed in houses with cats or small children. This pretty much rules me out for the next 10 years. I guess they have to the ignore the fact that my BC is perfectly content to share her house with kids and cats. Obviously I would never bring home a dog that showed aggression to children, but I’d at least like the chance to see how the dog would react around kids. It just gets frustrating when people wont look past the checklist. I for one think the shelter was right in taking the dog back. Perhaps Ellen wont take adoption so lightly next time. She said on her show she’s adopted 100′s on animals and found good homes for them. Does she think she some sort of halfway house?
I for one am very disturbed by this whole thing. The simple fact that Ellen and Portia took adopting an animal so lightly as to not even bother the read the contract they signed is inexcusable and the cause of this whole mess! Is it not common sense to read before you sign ANY legal document? It certainly is in MY life.
According to Ellen, they did not sign a contract or have a home visit.
Now, I really think that the rescue org. overreacted a bit; in that, they could have explained the situation, and then told Ellen and her hairdresser that they would have to fill out adoption papers, home visit etc., before going to the extreme of removing the dog. That to me cause far more stress than anything else.
Doing rescue work that I do, I know that foster homes are in short supply – was the dog in that much danger that it could not have stayed? And a new adoption could have occurred with the hairdresser?
And to say that they took the adoption lightly, I have more respect for someone that can say “this dog is not working out in my home” It is not fair for the dog to stay in an environment where there is stress, because it is just being itself. We don’t know the whole story, only what is being purported in the media.
The problem is they did NOT step up and tell the adoption agency that it wasn’t working out… they just gave the dog away and thought that was OK! That’s how many animals end up in shelters and pounds in the first place… people get sick of the animal or the animal isn’t working out so they get rid of it!
One of the main reasons these rescues have these safeguards in place is to ensure a dog they adopted out doesn’t end up in some kill shelter 6 months down the road. They are willing to take the animal back and find a more suitable home vs. the alternative. That family had the dog for a very short time – there’s no guarantee that dog would have worked out. What if 2 months down the road they decided to get rid of him because he barks too much or destroys furniture? Is this family going to call Mutts and Moms… or is she going to get someone else to take this dogs next? A friend of a friend maybe, or some stranger?
The other issue is the dog was put into a home with small children which is against Mutts and Moms policy. They put these rules in place to safeguard the animal… not to break some little kids heart! They do not put small dogs into homes with small children for a reason – the small children could get bit.
Here’s a scenario: Say Iggy nips a child because the child pulled his tail, got in his space while he was eating, etc… then what? Is this puppy branded a vicious dog? If the child gets bit in the face, or someplace else and requires stitches… probably! Then is his fate not sealed as a vicious dog and next thing you know he’s being euthanized for attacking a child? While maybe a little bit out there… is it not the truth? The rules are there to protect the ANIMAL!
Ellen claims she has adopted 100′s of animals. Is this really the first time she’s ever worked with an agency with a return policy? I highly doubt it and she should have known better.
I don’t call a nine and preteen small children? Small children are under 7, IMO. A nine and preteen are in pretty good control of not pulling a dogs tails.
I agree, that she should have told the agency that the dog was not working out, but, I don’t think she should be damned for her actions, in that she clearly thought she was doing something that was ok; in finding a good home.
I think the blame for this BLOWN out of purportion situation is 50/50.
The key phrase here is “in my opinion” – just like in the opinion of the rescue Mutts & Moms anyone under 14yo is considered a small child. Plain and simple! They have those rules in place to protect them as a NPO and to protect the welfare of the dogs they adopt out.
It’s an unfair statement to say that all 9yo’s and preteens know better than to pull a dogs tail, or get in a dogs face, etc. because not all of them do! And if you’ve ever had to take your child, neice, nephew, sibling, friend, etc. to the ER for a face bite from a dog… then you know what I am talking about.
For me personally ~ what it boils to is Ellen paid the adoption fee for this dog, thus agreeing to the terms of the adoption, then she violated the contract. She screwed up! She then made a huge deal out of the whole thing using her ‘star-power’ as damage control and it backfired on her.
This whole thing was BLOWN way out of control by both parties. I personally don’t think Mutts and Moms was acting in the best interest of the dog. They were trying to make an example of the “star”. Do you really think that the persons (Ellen and hairdresser) were acting with malice? Do you think they said – we are going to stick it to that org? And as I said before, I heard a report from Ellens attorney, that she did not sign a contract – or have a home visit. SO, Mutts and Moms did not follow their protocal in the first place. Sometimes, people do make honest mistakes; and maybe the org was not clear about the return policy. We don’t know the whole story, only what has been reported. I can bet a whole lot of mistakes were made by both sides.
I did not know that 14 was there cut off..gee, I have had idiot adults get in the faces of dogs and gotten bit also.
I know of alot of shleters that will not work with rescue groups because of their fanatical views. And for this group to go to the extreme they did, would lump them in the fanatical. I would think, they would have evaualuated the situation, BEFORE they reacted the way they did. Home visit, family interaction, and dogs home life. I don’t care a lick about poilicy of not adopting to families with kids (and there goes a HUGE adoption source), if they actually took a moment to check thing out, and handle it better, this would not have been blown so out of control.
I am heavily involved in rescue, and am thankful that I have the means and resources to take in so many dogs. I don’t have formal contract, just verbal. I lose alot of money, ALOT. And can’t help to think there was a breakdown in communication by both parties.
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