Ellen DeGeneres, a dog and a lot of tears

By Charlie McCollum
The most compelling bit of television Tuesday — maybe for the whole week — involved a dog named Iggy and daytime talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres.
For those who missed it, Ellen — a big animal lover — adopted Iggy from a private animal rescue agency but the Brussels Griffon mix terrier didn’t get along with her cats. (She spent $3,000 trying to get Iggy and the cats to get along.) So, Ellen gave Iggy to her hairstylist’s family and he immediately bonded with the hairdresser’s daughters, ages 11 and 12.
All’s well that ends well, right? Nope.
It seems that when Ellen and her partner — actress Portia de Rossi — adopted Iggy, they signed an agreement with the agency — Mutts and Moms of Pasadena — that they would not give the dog to another family without informing the agency. So the owners grabbed the dog back.That led Ellen making a tearful plea on Tuesday’s show for Mutts and Moms to return Iggy to his new family.
“I’m a human being and I have bad days and I have sad days,'’ Ellen told her audience. “But when I walk out here and you all cheer and when you’re here to dance, you’re here to laugh, and I know I make people happy it changes my mood. I come out here and I can do anything because of the energy I get. But today is a hard day for me. Today is bad. I am not capable of coming out and pretending to be funny and ‘on’ when things are going so terribly wrong right now. I’m so sorry - I’m just not able to pretend.
“Just please give the dog back to those little girls. I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I’m sorry I did the wrong thing. Just give it back to the family. Please, please, please.”
End result: A furious online debate (most sided with Ellen but not all), segments on the network and local TV newscasts and, according to their attorney, death threats made against Mutts and Moms owners Marina Batkis and Vanessa Chekroun. The owners are digging in their heels and are flatly refusing to return Iggy — saying they won’t be bullied by DeGeneres.
So, today, Ellen is making another plea for Iggy’s return. Iggy ”just needs to be in a good home,'’ she says, according to a transcript of today’s show. ”All that you’re supposed to do is put a dog in a loving home.'’
So far, Iggy has not been available for comment.

This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that an adopter will pass off the little, or big pooch to another person. Please allow the new prospective adopter an opportunity to adopt. Chances are, and you'll have a hard time accepting this, that the new family is a better suitor than the one you previously approved. Concerning Ellen, I doubt that she would find a family that wouldn't have put the pooch's interest first. We, Pound Dog Rescue, would probably adopt to this family, as most rescues would. In the press they were made to be villians that wouldn't be able to provide a loving home. Maybe their the ones that should have retained a lawyer.
And second, if rescues forbid to allow children from having pets, then we are producing a whole generation that will grow up not having pets. Research has shown, though you don't need much research to guess the answer, that people who had pets as children are best experienced to show their children how to love and care for a pet.
We hope Iggy is returned to your hairsylists and his two daughters. Perhaps Iggy will need a companion upon his return? Check out http://www.pounddogrescue.org/ . And if by chance you know of anyone looking to adopt, we'll trust your "word" that it'll be a loving home.