I don’t think I like you very much anymore…

Hey look, I actually have something to say today! This situation just irritates the hell outta me so I had to share. You might have heard about the Ellen Degeneres dog debacle in the news. Ellen delivered a sobbing diatribe in place of her usual monologue to open her show on Tuesday, all because she was feeling so sorry for herself and the dog that she adopted and failed to keep. Basically, she and Portia adopted a terrier mix puppy named Iggy from a rescue called Mutts and Mom and decided to re-home the dog with Ellen’s hairdresser after a couple weeks when things didn’t work out with the cats they already had. Like many animal rescues Mutts and Mom has a strict return policy that states in their contract (which Ellen signed) that if you can’t keep the pet for any reason you must return it to the organization so they can place the animal in another pre-screened home. So they violate the contract, and after the rescue finds out about it they re-claim the dog, which is well within their rights. So Ellen proceeded to go on TV sobbing about the little girls who miss their puppy and blah blah blah. Mutts and Mom has been forced to pull their listings from petfinder and I imagine is pretty much shut down for the time being due to the public anger and even death threats directed at them. This whole thing pisses me off. Ellen messed up, and instead of owning up to it like an adult and accepting the consequences she used emotional manipulation and her celebrity status to try and get her way.

If Ellen really loved animals she would take those girls to a shelter and show them the many other dogs who would desperately love to come home with them. She is doing so much harm by portraying rescues this way in a very public and emotionally charged manner. Some of her viewers may go out and buy a puppy mill dog from a pet store or from a backyard breeder instead of considering a rescue because they don’t want those crazy people coming back to steal their puppy.

Other things that bother me about this story:

She said she took the puppy home immediately (no holding period) and got him neutered. Why did the rescue allow a dog to leave their care without a home visit to ensure a proper environment (other pets included) and why did they let the dog go anywhere before it was neutered? Ellen also found it necessary to mention that she spent $3,000 on the dog during his brief 2 week stay with her. How is that relevant?

She also claims that she has adopted/rescued many animals over the years. Where are those other animals? As far as I’m aware she has just a couple cats. Rumor has it she has a history of adopting animals and getting rid of them because they don’t “work out”.

Also, if she loves animals so much, why does she eat them? Perhaps only cute animals that she personally knows are deserving of humane treatment and compassion, not to mention her tears and angst. Please, give me a break.

/rant.

What say you?