October 16, 2007...5:56 am
How NOT to run a non-profit
AP Photo: Ellen DeGeneres is shown in this, Jan. 9, 2007, file photo in Los Angeles. DeGeneres…
DeGeneres violates deal with pet agency
By BETH HARRIS, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 16, 2:41 AM ET
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 didn’t work out, DeGeneres gave the dog to her hairdresser.
In doing so, DeGeneres violated an agreement with the Mutts and Moms dog rescue 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 about the situation 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,” she said. “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.
3 Comments
October 16, 2007 at 10:58 am
UNREAL!! She found a loving home for a pet who needed one and look what happened. Rules like this exist for protection of the animals I understand, but logic and reason should override rules in this case….Ellen is well known as an animal lover, would never send an animal into a bad situation, frankly has too much to lose to make a poor decision about this. A rabid control freak works for or runs this agency, beware!!
October 16, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Most rescues operate this way. Call any if them and you will find they have very good reasons for it . Period.
October 17, 2007 at 9:16 pm
What a mess. The purpose of rescuing a pet and adopting it is to find it a loving home. Ellen claims to have done so but the agency was quick to snatch Iggy back. The agency should have been a bit more patient. I just hope Iggy finds a great home. He’s so adorable and is a celebrity pooch now.
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