Ellen's Puppy Problem
 

Rules are rules.

So says the rescue agency that Ellen DeGeneres adopted a puppy from, only to have it confiscated after she and partner Portia De Rossi handed it over to a pooch-less family.

A spokesman for Mutts and Moms, the Pasadena-based organization that has been the target of death and arson threats and calls for a boycott since DeGeneres' emotional retelling of the doggy dilemma on her talk show Tuesday, said that his client has no plans to return the four-month-old Brussels Griffon terrier mix to DeGeneres' hairdresser and her two young daughters.

Owner Marina Batkis "is not going to give them the dog," said attorney Keith A. Fink, who's not representing the shelter but is speaking on Batkis and co-owner Vanessa Chekroun's behalf. The women run the nonprofit Mutts and Moms out of their store Paws Boutique.

"[Batkis] doesn't think this is the type of family that should have the dog," Fink told the Associated Press. "She is adamant that she is not going to be bullied around by the Ellen DeGenereses of the world…They are using their power, position and wealth to try to get what it is they want."

The attorney explained that Mutts and Moms has a policy of not allowing families with children younger than 14 to adopt small dogs. The stylist's kids are 11 and 12.

Although DeGeneres said on TV that she was the one who erred by signing an agreement that prohibited her from sending the dog—christened Iggy—to another home without first notifying Mutts and Moms, Fink said that De Rossi was the one who signed the form.

DeGeneres' publicist, Kelly Bush, confirmed that account.

"She was wrong by not reading the agreement," Bush told the AP. "She thought she was doing a good thing. She's notorious for rescuing animals and finding them good homes. She found the dog a wonderful, wonderful home."

DeGeneres said that she and De Rossi had spent $3,000 to neuter and train Iggy to get along with cats, the latter taking place at the Los Angeles pet store UrbanTails.

Nevertheless, Mutts and Moms removed Iggy from the hairstylist's house on Sunday evening after learning that the pup had changed hands without permission.

"It's very upsetting to hear that someone is getting those kind of calls," Bush said when asked about the threats of violence leveled at the rescue agency. "Ellen just wants the dog reunited with the family."

"I thought I did a good thing," a tearful DeGeneres said Tuesday during Ellen. "I tried to find a loving home for the dog because I couldn't keep it…

"I feel totally responsible for it, and I'm so sorry. I'm begging them to give that dog back to that family. 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."

But apparently the kids are going to have to wait a few years if they want to do business with Mutts and Moms.

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I don't agree with this organization's policy that they won't allow families with young children to have dogs. That's just plain asinine. Maybe they should do what most humane societies do when giving out an animal for adoption: have a session between the animal and the family to see if they're compatible. Seems to me that this Mutts and Moms are more bitter and stubborn than they should be.

I have noticed some adoption agencies have weird rules that I don't really agree with. I tried to adopt a cat when I was 19 almost 20. Well I went to an adoption place near my apt in Philly and they turned me away saying I had to be 21, instead of giving me an animal that they would have just put to sleep they told me to go to another agency that did give animals to people under 21. It made no sense. I did go and get a cat from the other place and gave him a wonderful home.

There are soo many animals that need homes and medical attention that these agencies should not be that picky. Yes make sure the home is good and the new owner can afford to care for the pet but it sounds like in this case a personal belief is preventing a dog from having and otherwise loving home :(

Why in the name of all that is good does it make THAT much of a difference if the kid is 11-12 or 14? Sheesh.

I can appreciate that some dogs are not good with kids (mine is nervous around them)....and some small dogs will bite first and ask questions later, but there IS an adult there. It's not like the mother couldn't supervise what the kids were doing with the dog (or that the kids were irresponsible enough to harm the dog)

That poor dog. He had a home and now he doesn't. How does that solve anything?

ABSOLUTELY make sure that the people who adopt animals are capable of taking care of them......but don't get hung up on details that make no difference. :flaming: Betcha if Ellen had a kid under 14 and she had kept the dog there wouldn't have been a problem. Or some other celebrity with small kids....or some rich person with tons of money.

I don't always agree with these rescue and adoption organizations...they got some wacky ideas. At least Ellen admitted she messed up; she feels horrible. I think it's bullcrap that the agency won't readopt out the dog to the family Ellen gave him to. If it were my agency, I'd review the family and if they checked out hand the pup over.

Yeah, I think they shouldn't have a policy on the age of kids who can and can't adopt a dog. I heard about this on the news and felt so bad for Ellen. She just wanted to do the right thing. They shouldn't have policies like that because they are unfair. Let the kids have the dog. He's innocent in all of this. I feel so sorry for him because he had a home, and then he had to be taken back to the shelter. That's just wrong.