Ellen's Dog Will Not Be Reunited With Family
We are hearing that the people who took Iggy the dog from his new home with Ellen DeGeneres' hairstylist are not planning to return the dog to the family:
The dog was removed from the hairstylist's home Sunday. The owners of Mutts and Moms claimed that DeGeneres violated the adoption agreement by not informing them that she was giving the dog away.Mutts and Moms owners Marina Batkis and Vanessa Chekroun were in possession of the dog and will not be giving it back, attorney Keith A. Fink told The Associated Press.
"She (Marina) is not going to give them the dog," said Fink, who is not legally representing the owners but is authorized to speak on their behalf.
"She doesn't think this is the type of family that should have the dog. 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." [...]
DeGeneres had said her hairdresser's daughters, ages 11 and 12, had bonded with Iggy and were heartbroken when the dog was taken away.
Fink said Moms and Mutts has a rule that families with children under 14 are not allowed to adopt small dogs.
"It's for the protection of the dog," he said.
However, according to TMZ, that rule wasn't always followed. They are also saying that there was no real application process or home inspection to go through:
Now we've learned Ellen never submitted an application to adopt the dog, nor did she undergo a home inspection that seems so important after the fact. There were no holier-than-thou terms to this process.For the record, we're told the agency has greenlighted other dog adoptions with young children in the house — the "kids" in question here are 12 and 13.
Also, we've learned the microchip in the dog's neck that allowed the agency to get the dog back (courtesy of the police) was bogus. The deal was that Ellen's info was supposed to be added to the chip.
Ellen, a noted animal advocate, decided to give the dog to her hairstylist's family after discovering that Iggy did not get along with her cats, even after obedience classes. The dog lived with the new family for two weeks before Ellen received a call from the agency checking up on the dog. When Ellen told them what had happened, the owner allegedly went ballistic and threatened legal action and media coverage:
“I mean, she started threatening…she said if I don’t get the dog back by 2:00, Iâ€m calling the media on you, I’m calling my attorneys, I’m calling the police, and I was like, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, you’re gonna call the media and tell people that I’m, what, I placed the dog in a loving home?’â€
A point not to be lost: The owners, who are griping about the media attention and saying they don't want to back down and complaining that Ellen is using her media power to get what she wants, were the first ones to fire off a threat of going to the media. Continued on the next page
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