Ellen Degeneres under fire for giving away dog

[IrishMist]

I hope they're not getting a lot of hate emails. I really don't think they deserve it. They are not the bad guys. JMO

I think they could just as easily looked into the new arrangement without removing the dog. Some of these groups are awful to deal with.

 

[Amraann]

The video of Ellen made me tear up...

The adoption place is listed, but their site is down. I'm sure their servers are unable to handle the traffic this is all causing. I tried to send them an email, or at least post on their message boards, but I couldn't get on.

I was sad to see it too..
I really think this pet org could have handled it totally differently.

I mean had they pointed out the mistake and then reviewed the new situation they possibly could have gotten Ellen to comment in a positive way about them. (although she did not say anything negative)

 

[reb]

A lot of good points here you guys..... yes I agree, why aren't people as obsessive about human children when it comes to adoption & foster care?? (Not that I don't like most dogs more than most people...! but still!) or the parole issue... another good point. WTF...??

And yes,, I know for a fact that many rescue people (who are mostly women btw) are obsessive, control-freak loons with a saint complex.. I volunteered for a while,, and I soon got a taste of the drama and weirdness.... hhmm,, no thank you! Life is complicated enough.
And of course idea in theory is good.. and they do great things.. but there is WAY too much neuroses. And I understand why it is imperative that they make SURE they are going to a good home... but they can get to be nazis about it. And some tend to be borderline animal horders.

One group I helped out rescued a bunch of inbred dogs from a home, about 30.. that were inbreeding for several generations-- the dogs were strange and definitely inbred-looking (but kinda cute in their own way), and anti-social, afraid of people.. and a few turned out to be pregnant. Well, wouldn't you know it.. with ALL the dogs being put down every day, and ALL they had in their group and ALL that were yet to be resuced.. wouldn't you know it.. they got all 'pro-life' and said "oh, but we can't kill the puppies! We're just gonna let Tinkerbell have her babies and find homes for them all" (there were NINE.) .... I was just floored by that. They actually had a chance to PREVENT yet another litter (and an inbred litter, with health problems, at that).. from being born,, but they don't want to hurt the dog's feelings by terminating the pregnancy. Good grief. And that's just more cost for them, and even MORE homes to find... when we all know.. there aren't enough homes for them all. (and certainly not enough perfect homes!)

In another case ..I saw a posting on a local dog rescue forum about a lady who used to volunteer in rescue, who had 2 rescue dogs and was DYING OF TERMINAL CANCER... she was still in her home, unable to cope, about to go into a hospice and trying to figure out what to do with all her stuff and find a good situation for her dogs. Lost her job, lost everything. A heartbreaking situation, right..? (You know how those tragic, heart-rending pleas go, written by dog rescuers.) She adored her dogs but they were not exactly adoptable.. One was OK, but the other had some aggression issues, not good with kids, anti-social,, and they thought it may have to be put down. So I immediately felt bad for her and sent the e-mail to several friends and family members. We all sent something to her... thinking it would be used for her move, her bills, the cost of her illness,, food, dealing with the pets,, whatever.... and later I inquired as to whether the lady got the money.. and the friend who had originally sent out the e-mail says "Oh, yeah.. she decided to get Fido (the anti-social, aggressive, non-adoptable dog) a HIP REPLACEMENT OPERATION before she found him a new home!!!!! WTF?????????????????
So.. after these and a few other inceidents I removed myself from that whole world... and just decided to spend every minute I can with my OWN rescued critters. You can easily get sucked into animal resuce and believe me, it can take over your life, quickly,, and drain you emotionally.

Whoever paid $1000 for a resuce dog...?? That is INSANE. You were ripped off for sure! I've never heard of such a thing in my life. Most ask for around $80-125,, at least in TX...

 

[reb]

<I hope they're not getting a lot of hate emails. I really don't think they deserve it. They are not the bad guys. JMO>

I hope they ARE getting a lot of hate mail. Maybe it'll make them THINK a little more about what they are doing.

and I think that's the whole point here.. that sometimes they ARE as bad as the bad guys,, or almost...

 

[CaliKid]

Humane societies aren't much better. Twelve years ago we adopted two kittens for our daughter. As part of the agreement with the society, we had the animals neutered (by them) and received a free vet visit and immunizations.

Cat #1, we were told by the vet that it was the worst spay job she'd ever seen. The edges of the wound were not lined up properly, and after it healed we had to have the vet reopen the incision and restitch it (at our expense) to keep her from getting an infection and from suffering excrutiating pain the rest of her life. She luckily lived a good long life, became a pampered pet and died last spring from old age.

Cat #2 was diagnosed by the vet with feline leukemia. It would've been a simple test for the shelter to do, and the kitten was very sick and should never have been adopted out to anyone. By the time we found out, we'd already had the cat for two weeks, and my daughter was totally bonded with her. There was nothing left to do but make the cat comfortable until she was put to sleep later that year.

 

[IrishMist]

<I hope they're not getting a lot of hate emails. I really don't think they deserve it. They are not the bad guys. JMO>

I hope they ARE getting a lot of hate mail. Maybe it'll make them THINK a little more about what they are doing.

and I think that's the whole point here.. that sometimes they ARE as bad as the bad guys,, or almost...

I wasn't going to email hate mail, per se... more to point out that a little common sense would have avoided the entire problem, and to encourage them to make good.

The whole situation makes my blood boil.

 

[NK57]

I just watched the video of Ellen and to be honest I am furious at that rescue organization. For years I was a member and on the board of Forgotten Felines here in Westchester County. Yes I agree animal rescue is a thankless and difficult job. Your are always in the red and there are always new animals that need rescuing. Our adoption days and fund raisers were moderately successful . Twenty years ago, while the organization had a decent adoption contract, every time that it was updated, the guidelines became stricter for adopting. They wanted a vet reference(what if you never had a pet before and had no reference), they wanted to see the deed for your house or condo(ummm how about just your lease or condo board rules), would you agree to a home visit or a home study. Finally they were involved with removing from a nationally well known breeder, her entire breeding stock while this woman was on vacation and her elderly mother was there. That was when I drew the line and quit. I was not going to be a part of breaking, entering and theft in the name of humane services and rescue. Animal rescue, no matter how noble, has become a case of people who hate other people using animals to veil their hate. I can relate to how Ellen feels, these people make you feel like a piece of S*** if you don't totally suscribe to their way of handling animal rescue.
I wish there were more people like Ellen. Honest people who were just trying to re-home a pet and got kicked in the mouth for it. I still have my cats (all 7 of them). One is twenty, one is 19,and one is 17. The others are 6 and 7 years old. Perhaps there should be a standard universal contract for pet adoption. Perhaps these 501-3c organizations should be monitored more than an annual visit by the board of health. I don't know the answer. This will be an interesting story as it unfolds.

Nancy

 

[SuziQ]

SadieMae, I know the high adoption amounts are crazy. But Ellen, IIRC, payed 600.00 for hers. I will never adopt from one of them.

****
Here is something that bothers me about this case. First off, the dog does NOT look like a rescue. Is he purebred? And how many times are these people allowed to take back and readopt the dog out at 600.00 a pop? Sounds like legalized stealing if you ask me.

 

[SadieMae]

I don't think animal shelters do any testing of animals. We've gotten dogs in with parvo, cancer, heartworms, mange and other parasites that were picked up from shelters & other humane societies.

reb...there is a large breed "rescue" in CA that has a dubious reputation. They ALWAYS have purebred "new puppies" for adoption, and mixed "designer" breed puppies available. They charge over a thousand for an adoption fee. I've never seen a rescue with so many puppies available. There has been a lot of discussion about them on the net, being he is a former tv star. He has come under fire many times for the horrible health condition the dogs are in. I truly believe he's a breeder masquerading as a rescue. Our rescue NEVER has puppies unless the mother was picked up and already pg with pups. Last one with a litter was 2 years ago. It was very difficult adopting the pups out because they were not purebred Dane. Two of those pups are still in our rescue.

 

[NK57]

I wish some states were this picky when placing kids with some of these foster homes.


As a school psychologist who sees sad miserable kids everyday,this is exactly what I'm talking about.

 

[Details]

I hope they're not getting a lot of hate emails. I really don't think they deserve it. They are not the bad guys. JMO

This time, they are the bad guys, IMHO. Doggy has a good home, loving family, they remove it because of some missing paperwork and a bruised ego. Now they have one more doggy, which means that they have one less spot for a dog that REALLY needs to be rescued and one more dog that will be put to sleep at a shelter because there's no room. And a sad dog and a sad child.


Nope. Easy to see the hairdresser's home wasn't a doggy torture factory, so leave it there, run the paperwork and check her out, and if all is good, let her keep the dog.

I've had bad experiences with these rescue people too. They're overly obsessed with the animals, and projecting the needs of humans - and for that matter, human children, on them. And sometimes they just seem to like the control and the power of holding the pet you've grown to love back from you until you do their bidding.

They do great work, and I'm sure most are great people - but there are some real major problems with some of them.

 

[SuziQ]

Cached pages of Mutts and Moms. The first page was cached as recently as October 2nd.

http://tinyurl.com/2ob6lh

http://tinyurl.com/325kul

 

[NK57]

Thanks Suzi for the link. I think I will drop them a line.

Nancy

 

[SadieMae]

It would be difficult for the board of health to visit the rescue I work with. There is no one shelter where our dogs are kept. We are all private homes spread out from Dallas/Ft Worth down to Austin who foster one or two dogs at a time. All foster homes are evaluated, they give training to new fosters, and we have forum board where we all communicate. I've seen other rescues, and this one rocks!!

A high adoption fee is going to exclude people who will be great pet owners. I went to the Mutts and Moms website last night. I think they had a section justifying their high fee...something like if you can't afford to adopt, you can't afford vet bills. WTF!!

NK...if one of our adopters has never owned a pet, we give them vet names that are experienced with large breed dogs in their areas. It doesn't exclude them from adopting. All adopters can join our forum if they have questions, concerns, want advice or just to update us on how their dog is doing. Even people who hadn't adopted from us with a Dane are welcome from anywhere. The only time we confiscated Danes, the director was called by the Sheriff to ask they could take them. The dogs were used by a back yard breeder and in awful shape. The photos they took of that day would break any animal lover's heart. Of the 13, only 5 survived. They were too far gone to do anything to save them even with the best of vet care. We lost all 7 puppies a female was carrying.

 

[SuziQ]

Here is a link to reviews of Pawboutique at the same location as the Mutts and Moms. Pawboutique.com is not password restricted. And Mutts and Moms held "adoption events" at...drumroll......Pawboutique. Hmmmmm. And both businesses are no longer listed at Petfinder who was their primary animal listing service.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/paw-boutique-pasadena

 

[NK57]

Sadie, it does sound like your group tries to work with potential adopters.
and you are right about breeder mills. 3 of my persians came from a small breeder who had her program careen out of control. Wendy had no hair for a year, Sophie has a big hole in her heart and Piggy was born with no eyes. So yep breeders contribute to this mess. But I still think that the vast majority of rescuers forget that its human who are the adopters out there and not always the enemy.

Nancy

 

[LovingTheChaos]

So...how's the baby? How are you?

Aww - thanks for asking:blowkiss:
She is 5 now, & has a sister whose 3 & brother who is almost 1. They are all great

 

[SadieMae]

Here is a link to reviews of Pawboutique at the same location as the Mutts and Moms. Pawboutique.com is not password restricted. And Mutts and Moms held "adoption events" at...drumroll......Pawboutique. Hmmmmm. And both businesses are no longer listed at Petfinder who was their primary animal listing service.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/paw-boutique-pasadena

:waitasec: Hmmmmm....the more I read about them the more fishy they sound. Why can't they hold adoptions at Petco, Petsmart, etc? From the comments left, they also own the boutique.

 

[SuziQ]

Support Mutts & Moms by shopping at the Paw Boutique for all your pet supply needs: food, treats, toys, beds and more. 523 S. Raymond Ave, Pasadena - or delivery from

And

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Adoptions: our next event is Sunday 8/24 11am-3pm at the Paw Boutique store, 523 S. Raymond Ave, Pasadena. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]To meet one of our dogs for adoption, please follow the steps in How To Adopt including submitting an application. Once your application has been approved, we will contact you for an appointment. If you have questions, please email pawboutique @ yahoo.com
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://tinyurl.com/2ob6lh
[/FONT]

 

[reb]

<something like if you can't afford to adopt, you can't afford vet bills. WTF!!>

OK.. now you have hit on one of my MAJOR pet peeves with this issue!!! It seems it's getting to the point where they think ONLY THE WEALTHY SHOULD BE ALLOWED THE PRIVILGE OF OWNING A PET. !!!!
I know for a fact there are many super-wealthy families who live in huge McMansions and have designer everything.. and they treat their dogs like sh*t. They send them off to expensive doggy boarding school FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO TRAIN!! And they basically pay for their maid or some other assistant to feed, bathe, groom, walk, & take care of the dog. AND give it attention. Same way the idiots pay for someone else to raise their children, clean their house, and do everything else for them so they can spend all their time shopping, or working to pay for their giant McMansion... and complaining about how hard their life is. I mean,, WTF is the point of having a dog (or, a kid!) in the first place....???!

And if the pet rescuers think 'if you can't afford the fee then you can't afford the vet bills'... well... the way the vets are GOUGING pet-owners now (in part thanks to the drug companies who have caught on that people will do anything for their pets)... they are absolutely right. I, for one, cannot afford my 4 animals. They keep me in the poorhouse. But guess what, I have them anyway.