Normally, comedian Ellen DeGeneres is pretty upbeat on her talk show, Ellen but this was not the case yesterday when she tearfully begged an animal rescue organization to give a puppy back to her hairdresser’s family.
Based on what Ellen said on her show, she adopted the puppy from a rescue organization but after getting it neutered and trained, she decided that the dog was too rambunctious. So instead of returning it to the organization, she gave it to her hairdresser who has two daughters. Two weeks later, the organization called Ellen to follow up on the well being of the dog. When Ellen told them that she found it a new home, they took the puppy away from the hairdresser’s family. Ellen took a few minutes on her show to beg the organization to give the puppy back:
According to Reuters the animal rescue organization involved is the Pasadena-based Mutts and Moms. Ellen received an outpouring of support, which unfortunately included people making threats against the owner of Mutts and Moms, Marina Baktis. As to the specific details of those threats, she didn’t say.
Ellen did a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest and told him that when Mutts and Moms showed up at her hairdresser’s house, there was an “emotional, three-hour standoff.” I guess that’s how long it takes to show up at someone’s house and steal their puppy.
While I cant say that I support people harassing Mutts and Moms, this whole thing reeks of ridiculousness. I’ve adopted two animals from two separate shelters and never once received a call from either of them “following up” on their status. So either this place is totally by the book or they were just looking for an opportunity to give Ellen a ring. Based on the fact that Ellen said she was never asked to fill out an application to adopt the dog in the first place, I’m thinking it’s the latter. Either way, the logical way to approach the situation would’ve been to have Ellen and the hairdresser come in and sign the puppy over to the other woman’s family. Instead, they reclaimed the dog and gave it to another family.
Normally I wouldn’t consider this story TV news but since its affecting her show, it falls into my territory. I don’t like getting teary-eyed when I watch Ellen. I want to see her happy, joking around and dancing – not crying. So, Mutts and Moms – give the dog back to the hairdresser and her kids so Ellen can go back to doing what she does best – being funny and making people smile.
