OCTOBER 17, 2007

       Is it a question of whether or not a dog will be put in a good home or the fact that an organization won’t be pushed around by another loud-mouthed celebrity?

       In case you missed it: talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is entangled in a tug of war with an animal rescue shelter after she fostered a dog but had to give it up because the puppy didn’t hit it off with her cats. Instead of returning it to the shelter (as she reportedly agreed to on paper), DeGeneres gave the dog to a colleague whose family grew attached to the animal. Reps from the shelter stepped in and took away the dog because of DeGeneres’s contractual infringement.

       That’s where the drama began and, unfortunately, hasn’t ended.

       While DeGeneres insists the dog was in a loving home, reps for the animal shelter, Mutts and Moms, disagree.

       It’s been debated for years that the rich and famous throw around their celebrity to get things done the way they want them done. We’ve seen it with humanitarian work overseas and even in our own country with generous donations and contributions. But is Ellen doing the right thing for the right reason?

       Is it the embarrassment of the mistake she made in wrongfully assigning the dog to a new home that’s making DeGeneres literally sob on her daytime show? Is it that she’s hoping all of her fans and animal lovers will rally behind her so that she will prevail and be “the winner” of the debate?

       It’s growing increasingly obvious each day on her show that DeGeneres is attempting to get people on her side. Yes, she stated the facts as they seem to be true, but if she’s so high and mighty, why does she need a public outcry and reportedly members of the public calling in death threats to the owners of the animal shelter?

       True, DeGeneres isn’t instructing people to act recklessly in their protests but is she hoping the media attention will have the shelter owners back down and give the dog back to the family?

       I must admit that I am probably one of the biggest Ellen fans around but even I question her judgement when it comes to taking the liberty of finding the dog a new home. If anything, staff at animal shelters are a pretty good judge of character considering that finding loving homes is their expertise and not hosting talk shows.