Ellen DeGeneres
is in the doghouse with a pet rescue agency after giving
a pooch away to her hairdresser because it didn't get along
with her cats.
The talk-show
host and her partner, Portia de Rossi, adopted Iggy, a
Brussels Griffon mix, on September 20. But when things
didn't work out, DeGeneres gave the dog to her
hairdresser.
In doing so,
DeGeneres violated an agreement with the Mutts and Moms dog
rescue agency by not informing them of the handoff.
When the agency
called DeGeneres to ask about Iggy, she said she found
another home for the dog. The agency sent a representative
to the hairdresser's home Sunday and took the dog
away.
DeGeneres went
public about the situation Monday while taping an episode
of her show to air Tuesday. She admitted she didn't read all
the paperwork involving the adoption.
DeGeneres said
she spent $3,000 having the dog neutered and trained to be
with her cats. But the dog had too much energy and was too
rambunctious, she told her television audience.
''I guess I
signed a piece of paper that says if I can't keep Iggy it
goes back to the rescue organization, which is not someone's
home, which is not a family,'' she said in a show
transcript provided to the Associated Press.
''I thought I did
a good thing. I tried to find a loving home for the dog
because I couldn't keep it.''
DeGeneres said
her hairdresser's daughters, ages 11 and 12, had bonded
with Iggy and were heartbroken when the dog was taken away.
''Because I did
it wrong, those people went and took that dog out of
their home, and took it away from those kids,'' a sobbing
DeGeneres said on her show.
''I feel totally
responsible for it, and I'm so sorry. I'm begging them
to give that dog back to that family,'' she said. ''It's not
their fault. It's my fault. I shouldn't have given the
dog away. Just please give the dog back to those
little girls.''
Mutts and Moms, a
volunteer nonprofit organization in Pasadena, Calif.,
does not have a listed phone number and didn't immediately
respond to an e-mail request for comment. (AP)