Ellen update

Now I understand....still sucks for those kids though.

Ya, I still feel bad for the kids too. BUT Ellen did break the contract, I understand now, too. I can't believe that this wan't made clear to Ellen.

I understand there are rules, but if the dog was working out with its new family - why not leave it be? If there was an actual reason the dog was taken, such as the children were abusing it, it was left outside on a chain, etc the rescue needs to let that be known. Rules are guidelines. Exceptions can be made when the situation warrants it. I usually side with rescues, but I think this is wrong. It makes them look like they care more about a rule than about the kids and the dog. To me, this is not about Ellen. What she did is done. She created a situation that has to be dealt with. Why not deal with it out of compassion instead of taking a militant stance on the rules?

Beverly, I appreciate your point of view, and it's given me something to consider. But I worry about other families with young kids who got turned down by this agency, then might find out that there is a loophole -- let someone get approved to adopt and have them take the dog for two weeks then hand it over to the family that was denied. It's a slippery slope.

Boy, that's tough. I mean you've got to look at it from both sides.

For Ellen - She thinks she's doing the right thing by finding a new home for this little dog. She thinks she has one. They fall in love with the dog and seem like a happy home.

For the rescue - They are trying to follow their guidelines. They don't want to break rules just because it's a "celebrity" and if it was anyone else, they'd remove the dog. If they say no little dogs to homes with children under 14, it's because of their experiences, and how can we question that?

Either way it's a lose-lose situation. They either break their rules and set a bad pattern, or they look bad for not adopting the dog to this family. Ugghh... Glad I'm not them...

I mentioned in another posting yesterday that this group most likely had some sort of criteria that the family didn't meet. Maybe they didn't have a fence, or maybe this group didn't adopt out small dogs to families with kids. I thoroughly understand this, and am behind the rescue group. There are shelters and rescues here in Indianapolis who will *not* adopt out small dogs to kids, so this isn't anything out of the ordinary. This is Ellen DeGeneres' problem, not the problem of the rescue agency. And if the rescue starts bending their criteria for this case, it'll have to for the next adopter who has small kids, doesn't have a fence, is going to leave the dog in a crate while at work for 20 hours, doesn't believe in keeping a pet on a leash, and so on and so on. If the family wants a dog, they might just take a wander over to their local Humane Society or Animal Care and Control, and save a dog from being put down.