I was going to write a response to all the media attention that has been given to the case of [tag]Ellen Degeneres[/tag], [tag]Mutts and Moms[/tag], and Iggy the dog, but it looks like I was scooped by a fellow abolitionist.

B the catOn a personal note, let me say that one of my companion animals comes from a similar situation. B the cat (left), came to me from a friend who could no longer care for her. Rather than the shelter that she was originally adopted from taking her from me, however, I was simply asked to fill out the usual adoption papers and give the usual interview. I passed both and they were even kind enough to wave my adoption fee (I think because I talked about the importance of health care and diet). I had absolutely no problems with this process. As someone who helps run a sanctuary, I understand the importance of background checks. As Gary Francione pointed out in the post I linked to above,

I understand the concerns of rescue groups, such as Mutts and Moms. There are some people who adopt animals and who then dump them on a roadside or at a shelter that may kill them, or take them to a vet to be killed, because they no longer want the animal. There are even some people who have sold adopted animals into biomedical research.

Gary also has a good breakdown of Degeneres’ moral schizophrenia.

Perhaps a clue to her moral schizophrenia is provided by her repeated use of “it” to describe Iggy. In the end, nonhumans are just things—”its.” On one level, she recognizes that Iggy has attributes of personhood. But she is sobbing over an “it,” not really different from the other “its” that she thinks it acceptable to exploit.

In the end, I agree with Francione that both sides handled this situation poorly. Degeneres should not have abused her celebrity status to assume she could bypass the contract she signed and Mutts and Moms should have presented the family to whom Degeneres gave Iggy with the immediate option to follow procedure and adopt the dog. Even if they required another adoption fee (which ideally they would have waved), I’m sure the Degeneres could afford the gesture.

One thing that Francione didn’t touch on that needs to be pulled into the light is the potentially serious damage that Degeneres is doing to the dogs in the care of Mutts and Moms. A small example is the fact that I was going to try and find some stats on the number of dogs that Mutts and Moms has rescued, but I was unable to do so at the time of writing this because the outrage generated by Degeneres has overwhlemed the organization’s website. Now no one can get on to see what dogs they have for adoption or even where they are located.

Rescue organizations often run on very limited budgets. When I heard the voicemail left by Degeneres’ staff about how they were filing a suit and launching a media death storm against the organization, I couldn’t help but wonder what this was going to do for the organization’s budget. Sure, Degeneres gets a lot of free publicity that makes her look like a folk hero for animals, but how many more homeless and dead dogs will come as a result of Mutts and Moms having to spend their money on lawyers (not to mention any loss of funding from the negative publicity).

I am also curious as to what affect this may have on people’s opinion of adopting from shelters? I can’t help but think that at least a few people are now thinking that its better to buy a dog from a breeder… who has no care standards or adoption policies.

While I’m glad that Degeneres has called for an end to the death threats against Mutts and Moms, its time she suck up her pride and admit her own wrongdoing. Maybe then we can move on.