DeGeneres Caught in Canine Adoption Caper

Why do people get so weird and militant when it comes to their pets? This is a ridiculous situation that has escalated into a really volatile one, polarizing dog owners and pitting a celebrity against the entire pet adoption industry.

In case you haven't heard, comedienne/talk show host Ellen DeGeneres adopted a dog from an adpotion agency. When the mutt didn't work out for her, she gave it to a friend. When the adoption agency found out about it, they were uspset, claiming that Ellen had no right to give away the pooch and had violated their rules. So, they went to the new dog owner's house and retrieved the dog.

I can see this issue from both sides. On one hand, I think the adoption agency is being way too heavy-handed. Ellen is obviously a dog lover and I don’t believe that she would give this mutt to anyone who couldn’t provide a good home for the dog. To send the police into someone’s home to retrieve a dog is just crazy.

On the other hand, rules are rules. Adoption agencies have to be careful where adopted dogs go. Part of their job is to make sure these animals are given to responsible people who will provide a safe environment for them.

Most adoption organizations are run by volunteers, so these people are obviously passionate about what they do. But, like anyone else, they can get carried away when it involves pets.

I have experienced this first-hand. When I tried to adopt a dog from the Humane Society, they questioned me for close to an hour. And I was working there as a volunteer at the time. I got so fed up at one point, during the interrogation that I said to them – “What do you care what I do with the dog? You’re just going to kill it?”

One of the things these adoption groups have to be wary of is what’s called “Batchers.” I call them bastards.

“Batchers” are unscrupulous idiots who adopt dogs and then sell them to testing laboratories. They usually target individuals who advertise that they want to give their dog away, and then go to their house and con them into thinking that they’ll provide a good home for the dog. Then, they sell it for a tidy profit so that labs can do these cruel tests on them and eventually destroy them. Some of these “Batchers” have been known to bring children with them, so that they can pose as a family in need of a pet.

That’s why you should always give your dog to a rescue or adoption agency is you have to give the animal away. They will spend the time to make sure that it goes to a good home.

Associated Press published this online yesterday:
Ellen DeGeneres' doggie dilemma took a nasty turn, with the operator of the animal rescue organization that took the pooch away saying she has been deluged with threatening e-mails and phone calls.

The calls got so bad that Marina Batkis said she had to close her business and stay home Wednesday, a day after DeGeneres broadcast a tearful, televised plea for the dog to be returned to her hairdresser and the woman's daughters.

"My life is being threatened. This is horrible," a tearful Batkis said outside her home.
B
atkis and Vanessa Chekroun co-own Mutts and Moms, the nonprofit dog-rescue organization that gave the dog to DeGeneres and her partner, actress Portia de Rossi.

"They have gotten thousands of e-mails," attorney Keith Fink told the television program "Inside Edition." "Most of them are hate e-mails threatening them with lynchings, bombings of their home."

One recording "Inside Edition" played had a male voice saying, "You Nazi, scum-sucking pigs. You're gonna pay dearly for stealing this dog from those little girls."

The twisted dog tale began last month when DeGeneres and de Rossi adopted a cute, black Brussels Griffon mix terrier named Iggy. When Iggy was not able to get along with DeGeneres' cats, the couple gave the dog to DeGeneres' hairdresser.

That, Batkis pointed out, violated a written agreement de Rossi signed in which she agreed to return the dog to Mutts and Moms if the adoption did not work out.

DeGeneres acknowledged she erred but said her hairdresser and her family should not be punished.

"This is so insane," a calmer DeGeneres said on her talk show Wednesday. "It's just the dog needs to go to the family."

Batkis has refused to back down.

"If Ellen wants to place dogs and decide what's a good home, then she should start her own rescue group," she told "Inside Edition." "But I'm the one doing this and I know what I'm doing."

Meanwhile, the dispute has become a hot topic on news and talk shows.

"There's got to be some sort of rational compromise," ABC's Diane Sawyer said on "Good Morning America."