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Barking-mad DeGeneres Nixes Friday Show for Long Weekend
Ellen DeGeneres says she only had her dog's best interests in mind when she passed li'l Iggy off to a friend, incurring a backlash coming from the adoption agency Mutts & Moms which she deems "surreal." Speaking to E!'s Ryan Seacrest, Ellen says, "Iggy's health and safety has always been No. 1," then details how when M&M owner Marina Batkis ostensibly visited DeGeneres' friend to "evaluate" the home, Batkis picked up and did not release Iggy for three hours, before declaring she was removing him from the house.
The fallout from the incident "[seems to be] about punishing me, and that's fine," says Ellen. "[But] seven million dogs are euthanized each year, and [the focus here] should be about rescuing dogs."
Batkis has since placed Iggy with another family, and received death threats as a result. Says Ellen, "People are acting out, and this is not about getting back at Marina. I just want the dog to go back to [my friend's] family."
UPDATE: DeGeneres is giving herself a breather after all the hullabaloo. According to a statement on her talker's website, "Ellen is taking a long weekend and will be back with a new show on Tuesday."
POLL: Whose side are you on in this squabble? Vote here.
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Oct 18, 2007 10:56 AM
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You know the people who run this non-profit have dedicated their lives to helping protect these dogs and putting them in homes that best suit their dispositions. Who is Ellen to come in and tell them what their focus is? The dog will clearly find a good home, Ellen's just mad because it's not the home she wants. Also this whole "punishing me" nonsense is so over-the-top egotistical.
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Oct 18, 2007 11:30 AM
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What a showboat. Who broke this story? Was it the dog agency or Ellen? Cause Miss Thing is really sucking up as much attention as she can get off this ordeal.
Ellen, you screwed up. Just be done with it and move on, lady.
(I won't even get into the "what was she thinking" aspect of trying to bring a dog into a cat-centric house)
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Oct 18, 2007 12:03 PM
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Must be a really slow news week that this is still hot news. Regardless of what you think of the M&M people, Ellen broke the contract so she has only herself to blame.
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Oct 18, 2007 12:10 PM
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Three things: 1) It's pathetic that she'll anything for publicity; 2) she was irresponsible by adopting a dog without thinking it through -- maybe the cats will hate it; and 3) why isn't she getting grief for just passing the dog off when it "disrupted" her household. (I just adopted a puppy three months ago. Guess what? It's been an adjustment, but I made the commitment. Maybe she should have too. And, yes, my contract requires me to return him to agency if I can't care for him anymore.)
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Oct 18, 2007 12:23 PM
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wildbill, if that's a Deadwood reference, you and I have a lot in common. 
I don't get all the Ellen hate. It smacks of the Rosie hate to me, which seems to be more about politics and lifestyle rather than the issue at hand, although it's all very clearly *couched* in terms of the issue at hand, even if the legal issue isn't the actual driving force behind the hate.
Not pointing fingers here, just noting.
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Oct 18, 2007 12:26 PM
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Ellen may have made a mistake in giving away the dog but the so-called "responsible rescue" agency sure made their share. First, a responsible agency would have not let anyone take the dog home without a home check or background check on the individuals, celebrities or not. Therefore, the red flag would have been up about the cats and the interaction between the two. Second, where were the follow-up calls from the agency? Responsible rescue programs call once a week for the first month, not the mention the emails they send almost every day, then once a month for six months and then a yearly check-in. I know because this is what we went through adopting our dog 6 years ago. We weren't allowed to the dog home until the next week after references were checked, etc. even though we already had another dog. And they do make exceptions to contract and procedures because we adopted the third dog with no checks of any kind. The agency should have been aware of all and advising the adoptees that if there is any problem, they need to take the dog back.
There were lots of mistakes made in this case all the way around; unfortunately, it the dogs and good rescue adoption agencies that will suffer. Ellen may have brought the subject up but the agency brought the backlash on themselves.
Sorry, that's just the way I feel.
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Oct 18, 2007 12:27 PM
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Uuuum, Ellen also discouraged the backlash and threats. I think that is worth mentioning. She did feature the whole debacle on her show in the first place, but she did not expect the "lunatic fringe" to start offering up threats.
I also agree that for some, this is about hating Ellen, not being on the side of M&M.
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Oct 18, 2007 12:35 PM
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If only this much attention was paid to this country's foster care system and how the children are placed...
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Oct 18, 2007 12:36 PM
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Must be a really slow news week that this is still hot news.
I see 42 impassioned comments on the story's previous beat, I think, "People are interested."
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Oct 18, 2007 12:43 PM
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I am not interested in Ellen (nor do I dislike her). I am interested in the mob mentality that led to death threats!
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Oct 18, 2007 1:25 PM
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Don't start the blame game against Ellen--the news last night stated (both CBS and NBC) that the owner of the (so-called) rescue group called Extra sobbing over how mean people were being to her. Did Ellen screw up? Maybe, however the rescue group took it further with their heavy handed tactics and bullying small children. They started the backlash against themselves--it is a little late to start calling foul now. I know I wouldn't use any service they would offer--obviously, they change their policies to suit themselves.
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Oct 18, 2007 1:41 PM
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Bullying small children? When did that happen?
Sobbing over how mean people were to her? OH, you mean the death threats. Yeah, those are kinda "mean".
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Oct 18, 2007 1:55 PM
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You're right, Matt. People are interested.
I have to agree with beege about the way this was handled. Plus, the agency's owner was absolutely hateful when she was interviewed. If she did, indeed, hold on to that puppy for three hours without a break, she's lucky he didn't pee on her. That's a long, long time and should be counted as cruel and unusual punishment.
Still, the violent threats are WAY out of line. I can see boycotting the store, but not that.
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Oct 18, 2007 1:57 PM
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Bullying small children
I believe that is a reference to the hairdresser's two children who had bonded with the small dog then watched as the rescue organization's owner showed up at their house ( with the police) and took the dog. Nice work lady--hope you have hired a good PR firm to repair your own damage in this mess.....
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Oct 18, 2007 2:10 PM
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