Comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is in the headlines after she tearfully confessed that she gave a dog she adopted from a California rescue group to her hair stylist.
During a post-adoption call, DeGeneres told the non-profit group, Mutts and Moms, that the dog, Iggy, did not get along with the cats in her home and she had given Iggy away. The owners of the rescue group later seized the dog from the hair stylist's home.
DeGeneres admitted she did not realize re-homing the dog would be a violation of her adoption contract, and she has asked that Iggy be returned to her hair stylist's family, where she said the dog had bonded to the woman's 11- and 12-year-old daughters.
According to the Associated Press, the owners of the rescue group said they will not give Iggy back to his new family, citing a policy of not allowing families with children under the age of 14 to adopt small dogs. They also said today they have received death threats since the incident became public.
In what seems to be one giant overreaction after another, everyone in this mess claims to have the best interests of this little dog at heart. And yet Iggy has bounced to two homes and now has no home at all.
Bill Watson, executive director of the Roanoke Valley SPCA, said that his organization's adoption contract stipulates that if an adopter cannot keep an animal, they ask that the SPCA be notified within 30 days of sending the pet to live with another family.
If you cannot find another family, they ask that you return the animal to them. But, since space is limited, they may not have room for the returned pet.
"We have to recognize that we can't take back every animal," Watson said. “Our goal is to make sure animals are put into a good home."
In an e-mail, Laura Walters of the Pulaski County Human Society said it is their policy that an adopted pet be returned to them if the new family cannot keep it. However, she wrote, in a case similar to the one DeGeneres has described, they would probably not seize the dog from the new family.
"...we would still request that the new family complete an application and let us check it out," Walters wrote. "If the dog was at risk with a family that had a questionable pet history, the situation would be different."
Before adopting a new pet from a rescue group or shelter, carefully read the contract and try to be realistic in your expectations of the adjustment period for the animal. Contact the adoption agency if things aren't going well.
Most shelters test a pet's temperament to better match the animal with a home where both the pet and the family will be happy, but sometimes it just doesn't work out.
"Once an animal is away from here," Watson said of the SPCA shelter, "its environment can change and behavior can change."
Walters said they will work with families to see if additional training is needed so a pet can stay in the new home.
Comments
[October 18, 2007 2:11 PM]
elisaI am questioning the validity of a contract such as the one for "Iggy". I certainly understand the need for a rescue agency to try to insure that the new owner/purchaser will be a fit owner. However, I have a question about the time element for the contract. Is a time frame set in the contract which stipulates how long Ellen had to keep the dog before she could give it away? If not, when the conditions under which she agreed to buy the dog (i.e., no children under 14 in the home)are violated, does she have to return the dog even if a long period of time has passed (1, 5, 10 years, 6 months ...)?
Also, what if the agency cannot find a suitable home for a dog that they have retrieved from a home that has people under 14? Will they destroy it?
[October 18, 2007 3:54 PM]
NonaElisa, you raise some very good questions. That's why it's so important to read the contract and ask plenty of questions when adopting an animal from a rescue group.
Now, that's a lot easier said than done when you've fallen in love with a little sweetie who is squirming in your arms and giving you puppy kisses or purring to the beat of you heart. You'll sign anything while you are emotionally connecting with your new best freind.
This rescue group does sound very militant in its contractual rules. No small dogs for families with young kids? Really? Uh, family situations do change and this seems like a rather stringent requirement.
I'd like to think they are so strict to protect the dogs, but there really is only so much control they should reasonably expect over a pet adoption.
This went way, way overboard, in my opinion.
[October 18, 2007 3:57 PM]
NonaOne more update: I did hear on the "Today" show this morning that Iggy has been placed in a new home.
The daughter of Ellen's hair stylist, who had bonded with Iggy before his removal, was pleading with the new family to give her back her dog.