Ellen Degeneres

[shirazplease]

The resuce agency sound like bullies, to me. They've certainly turned me off going that route when I adopt a dog.

Then the only alternative you have is puppy mill dogs and dogs from backyard breeders who will sell to anyone with a checkbook, regardless of their ability or motivation for getting a dog. Once again, the dogs are the ones who end up paying. Thanks, Ellen.

[sugarhigh]

Or, you know, the pound...

And I'm pretty positive that there are reputable breeders out there. It just takes reserch to find them.

[Deleted]

As cruel as it sounds, unfortunately we live in a throw away society and as such rescue groups often have to take extreme measures in order to ensure that people don't get bored with one pet, toss it and adopt another. Even my local Humane Society is pretty strict. Now I adore Ellen, but she should never have adopted if she couldn't make a lifetime commitment. If the dog is being a pain in the ass to the cats, hire a trainer. Sometimes these things take longer than a month and she should have thought about that before adopting.

[Sunnyhorse]

Ordinarily I love Ellen, but she's been duplicitous (or just careless) from start to finish. Portia (not Ellen, apparently, despite her claim to the contrary) signed a contract indicating that they would notify the agency if they couldn't keep the dog, yet they turned around and gave the dog away less than a month later. I have no sympathy for them -- they broke the contract and now are trying to bully/shame the shelter into bending the rules for them. How hard would it have been to honor the contract and the shelter's rules and call to say, "We can't keep the dog, but we have a great family who would like to adopt?" Obviously they'd read the contract closely enough to see that families with kids under 14 weren't wanted for this kind of dog. We get all worked up when celebs get special treatment, and this situation is no different: Celeb gets caught breaking the rules, then tries to foist the blame on the wronged party.

[angelaudie]

I'm siding with the agency. Ellen's signed contracts before. She knows to read the fine print. She thought the rules didn't apply to her, and because she's Ellen, it would be alright. Nope, it wasn't. If Ellen feels this bad, she should take the girls to the pound and let them pick out another dog. I know they are attached, but rules are rules. And it bothers me, she calls Iggy "it" too. He or she, there is no it when it comes to a beloved pet.

I have a feeling Ellen gets her lawyers to work out the contracts and they tell her the fine print. That's the way most people handle contracts. I doubt anyone would think to take a lawyer would be necessary to adopt an animal.

I've noticed that Moms and Mutts' defense does not include, "We explicitly told Ellen that if it doesn't work out the dog to simply return the dog back to the shelter." That would be an excellent defense if they told Ellen about this rule. It makes me wonder if they ever bothered to bring up this point with Ellen.

Finally, I've noticed that Mutts and Mom does not have a phone number. Their reason? They don't have time to talk to people on the phone. I don't know if I trust an agency that basically does not have time to talk to me about any concerns I have. Sorry but it sounds like this is a pet rental agency not an adoption agency.

[Deleted]

Come on people , it's like adopting a child and then you get the kid home and realize your home isn't suited for the kid then decide you know i will give the kid to another family we know who wants to adopt without letting the adoption agency know. There is a reason for the contract and she works on tv she should know how binding a contract is.

[Witchie]

Mutts and Mom must have a phone number if Ellen's attorney and all those lunatic fans have been able to leave messages threatening them. They probably removed it from their site. I would.

Ellen's using her celebrity status to right a wrong that she perpetuated. If she'd done the correct thing and called the agency up to tell them things weren't working out with Iggy, they could have picked him up and no one would be the wiser. Ellen was wrong, and going on TV and crying like someone killed her mother is beyond pathetic. Get the kids another dog and let's move on. The more she cries, the more the agency is going to dig in their heels.

[abigail]

I predict Mutts & Moms will be out of business because of this debachle. I feel bad for Ellen and for Iggy. I hope the ladies over at Moms & Mutts take the stick outta their ass and back their ego down and give the dog back to the girls.

[angelaudie]

Mutts and Mom must have a phone number if Ellen's attorney and all those lunatic fans have been able to leave messages threatening them. They probably removed it from their site. I would.

The owners also run a store in L.A. My guess is that's where they left messages. Also, the site does have the name of the people who run the agency. Anybody with a computer can google their name and get a phone number. Their site has also been removed. Again, I'm simply going by what they had on their site just mere minutes after Ellen aired in my area (10 am central). Even though the agency claims they don't care what Ellen does they really do. I doubt they consider this good publicity.

[freddydingo]

Ellen's using her celebrity status to right a wrong that she perpetuated.

And in an incredibly irresponsible way - she's known to have fanatical fans and she should have had some idea that that ridiculous performance of hers could cause some of them to take it over the top. "How dare you make Ellen cry?"!!! That's what's important here?