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Wednesday, 17 October 2007

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Ellen DeGeneres continues fight with dog adoption agency

Comedian is dogged by controversy after tearful plea

Ellen DeGeneres isn't giving up her appeal for doggie asylum.

On her show set to air Wednesday, the show host, 49, continues her plea, "It's become so insane ... the dog just needs to go to the family."

She stays composed as she goes on to say the fight should not be about anything but putting the dog in a loving home.

The Mutts and Moms rescue agency, however, is standing its ground – despite receiving death threats after DeGeneres broke down in tears on Tuesday's show, the Associated Press reports.

Vanessa Chekroun and Marina Batkis, who run the agency, believe they are doing what's best for Iggy, says a spokesman for the pair.

"[Batkis] doesn't think this is the type of family that should have the dog," said Keith A. Fink, an attorney who does not represent the agency but is acting as a spokesman. "She is adamant that she is not going to be bullied around by the Ellen DeGenereses of the world ... They are using their power, position and wealth to try to get what it is they want."

But DeGeneres's publicist Kelly Bush says the TV host has the best intentions. "It's very upsetting to hear that someone is getting those kind of calls," Bush told the AP. "Ellen just wants the dog reunited with the family."

The dogfight began after DeGeneres and her partner, Portia de Rossi, took home the Brussels Griffon mix on Sept. 20. Things didn't work out between Iggy and the couple's cats, so the TV host 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 switch-off. When the agency contacted DeGeneres and learned another home was found for Iggy, Mutts and Moms then dispatched a rep and police to the hairdresser's home and removed the pet on Sunday.

The women running the Pasadena-based agency say the publicity from DeGeneres's show generated voicemails and e-mails threatening death and arson, along with hordes of media that interfered with their work at the Paws Boutique store, where they handle the volunteer agency, Fink told the AP.

He also insists that Iggy's are the only feelings that count in the skirmish: "It's for the protection of the dog."

By Sara Hammel