DeGeneres: Dog Custody Battle "So Insane"
Ellen DeGeneres' dog custody battle took a nasty turn Wednesday, according to an owner of the non-profit animal rescue group Mutts and Moms.
The trouble began last month when DeGeneres and her partner, actress Portia de Rossi, adopted a black Brussels Griffon mix terrier named Iggy. When Iggy wasn't able to get along with DeGeneres' cats, the couple gave the dog to DeGeneres' hairdresser.
Giving the dog away to someone else, says Marina Batkis, co-owner of Mutts and Moms, violates a written agreement de Rossi signed in which she pledged to return the dog to the agency if the adoption didn't work out.
"We won't be bullied into placing a dog with people we don't know, we know nothing about, just because a celeb is involved," she told The Early Show national correspondent Hattie Kauffman.
When Mutts and Moms found out DeGeneres and de Rossi no longer had Iggy, it went to the family where the dog was living, and took him back.
DeGeneres had said her hairdresser's daughters, ages 11 and 12, have bonded with Iggy and were heartbroken when the dog was taken away.
Acknowledging that she erred in giving the dog away instead of back to Mutts and Moms, DeGeneres said Wednesday that her hairdresser's family shouldn't be punished.
"This is so insane," said DeGeneres, speaking on her talk show Wednesday. "The dog needs to go to the family."
Gordon, DeGeneres's hairdresser's husband, said that when Mutts and Moms came to their home, they assured the family that Iggy could remain with them.
"I really, really want Iggy back so badly and I don't think it's fair," Gordon's daughter Ruby said.
The agency points out that its policy is not to place small dogs in homes with young children. And they claim DeGeneres's televised tears are unfair.Photos: Ellen DeGeneres
"I see an abuse ... by somebody who's powerful, somebody in the media, against a little person," said attorney Keith Fink, who represents Mutts and Moms. "If you don't do it, the Ellen DeGeneres Hollywood way, then you're going to be threatened with litigation and destruction of your business."
Batkis says there have been so many threatening e-mails and phone calls that Wednesday that she had to close her dog grooming business, the Paws Boutique in Pasadena, one day after DeGeneres broadcast her first tearful, televised plea for the dog to be returned to her hairdresser and the woman's daughters.
"You Nazi scum sucking pigs. You're gonna pay dearly for stealing this dog from these little girls," a man said in a voice message.
"It's very upsetting to hear that someone is getting those kind of calls," said DeGeneres' publicist, Kelly Bush, adding: "Ellen just wants the dog reunited with the family."
Batkis is not budging in her refusal to return Iggy.
"We just wanted the dog back brought back to safety, which is part of our organization," she told Kauffman. "We are a safety net for the dog for the rest of its life."