On the other hand, what gives the dog agency owner the right to trespass into someone's home and wage a tantrum?

That would be the contract I mentioned earlier. A legally binding document that Ellen and/or Portia signed. The rescue is the legal owner of the dog. That's how contracts work.

I don't know the specifics on how the dog was retrieved, but the majority of the press coverage focuses on whether they dog *should* have been returned to the rescue, not *how* it was returned. Should isn't open for discussion.

I still say shame on Ellen for allowing her personal feelings to stir up such a frenzy when she is clearly in the wrong, even if she was well-intentioned. She needs to do something to stop the death threats.

Don't you think the adoption group was a little psycho about how they went about the whole thing? It was as traumatizing as possible. They couldn't call? They couldn't check in? Ellen admitted fault in the whole thing, but I thought the goal was to get puppies into homes, not the agency's way or the highway. Look, they should be "Dog First" but this whole Humane Society Gestapo approach was just sort of nuts.

The goal is to get the animal adopted into a responsible home. Ellen demonstrated that she is not a responsible home for this pet by ignoring the contract. The rescue removed the pet because it is their policy not to place these dogs in homes with children under the age of 14. Agree with that or not, IT WAS IN THE CONTRACT.

Removing a dog from a home that is not suitable (as deemed by the pet's legal owners) is not comparable to playing the pity card by having a meltdown on national television. The animal is safe and well-cared for now, not being used for dog fighting bait for crying out loud.

I think Ellen is being ridiculous. I think the rescue is getting a really bad rap for this. The difference is that everyone gives Ellen the benefit of the doubt for doing what was best for the dog and very few people give the rescue the same credit.

Again I say, shame on Ellen for abusing her celebrity.

Give me a fucking break. You certainly do NOT speak for all lesbians and we are NOT disappointed. The dog was happy, the family was happy, that's all that was important. What the rescue people did was traumatize the dog and the hairdressers family. Shame on them.

I love Ellen. I think she's done an enormous amount of good--for animals, for people. To get that out of the way, first off.

And, I believe that she violated the contract, but certainly without any malicious intent. She took responsibility for that. She thought she was doing a good thing by making sure the dog had a happy, safe home. She did what she believed to be the right thing.

The Rescue, when Ellen told them that she'd given the dog to her friends, I think the rescue absolutely should have informed her that she'd violated the contract, and also performed a home inspection of the new home (and removed the dog if the home was not appropriate for the dog).

However, it seems very overzealous to immediately dispatch someone to remove the dog without taking into consideration that the dog had been living in a safe, happy environment with people who cared about him and wanted him. Of course, it's the owner (of the rescue)'s prerogative to be irrational and overzealous. It's her business, so she can do that if she wants.

However, certain other points in the contract were not enforced (i.e. it is stated that a home inspection would be completed before the dog was placed with the new owner--Ellen and Portia--and it was not, etc.).

That said, I think that Ellen should not have brought this on the air. It should have been handled privately. But, people make mistakes. Unfortunately, this mistake got WAY out of hand with her fans taking up the fight and harassing and threatening the Rescue's owner. That's not Ellen's fault, but it is a ramification of making a public plea.

I think that it's an unfortunate situation all around. (and, I still love Ellen).

You must have missed the vote. I think it was on a Tuesday in February. AskALesbian and I were neck and neck for the coveted title of offiicial lesbian spokeswoman. It came down to an arm wrestling match. So I speak for all lesbians in 2007 and she takes over in 2008. Rumor has it that its up for grabs in 2009. :-)

It bothered me to see how upset Ellen got on her show when telling the story of iggy.
I felt her compassion for both the girls and the dog ,she thought she was uniting only to realize that a mistake on her part was causing them to be pulled apart.
I read other blogs and was discussed but not surprised that some will take any opportunity to degrade, talk nasty and hateful about Ellen the ?dyke?
But I was surprised to pull up this blog and read how Ellen is spreading hate and intolerance. One who has gone from one of the coolest lesbians around to a whiny, spoiled celebrity brat? Who?s being intolerant? Ellen did admit she did things wrong and she apologized and said not to hold any others to blame. Why is Ellen being blame for spreading hate when it?s others not her that have made threats?

There are times that I don?t agree with Ellen, but this is one time that I stand with her. Did she use her celebrity status to get her point across maybe so is that wrong? Her TV show is a big part of her life and she shares a lot of her life on it. Doesn?t the host of this blog do the same except on a much smaller scale? Whether it?s on this blog or guess spots on talk radio

And just to set the record str8, and speaking for myself I?m one lesbian that is NOT disappointed in Ellen

Yes, I am critical of Ellen because I strongly disagree with her choices. I'm not going to hold back because she's a lesbian. To imply that I do so is ridiculous. She did a lot of damage to dog rescuers, folks whom I really admire. She's not above scrutiny on lesbian blogs.

So, yes, I will be critical of her. The other similarity between this blog and a television show is that they are passive mediums .. you have to turn it on/visit the site. Folks are welcome to visit and see what I have to say on all sorts of topics. I'm sure there will be something to offend/surprise/displease/anger someone. But I'm not going to give "dykes' a pass. THAT would be intolerant.

The dog rescuers did the damage to themselves.