However, I also think adoption agencies in general need to trust the people they adopt their dogs to. If they cannot, then they can keep all the rescue dogs for themselves. I will get a dog from a person who is willing to relinquish the ownership of a dog. I hope rescue organizations listen, but I guess people will have to stop adopting from them in order to change this situation. I found a rescue dog last week, and was shocked that the owner, a very conscientious older man who had owned the dog several years, was worried that I had contacted the agency. Apparently, if the dog was ever lost, he’d lose ownership of it. No one wants to lose a dog. But the world isn’t a perfect place, sometimes families change, dogs get lost, ect. If rescue organizations can’t trust conscientious owners, then we’ll have to stop adopting from them!

Animals remember more than we give them credit for remembering. The bounced around now 4year old “rescue” kitty is very submissive and timid around other animals since the fosters’ two combative cats beat her up all the time. It took her most of a year to adjust to this being her home and figure out that she wouldn’t be kicked to the curb again and that our other cat wasn’t trying to hurt her when he licked her face. Our 15 year old kitty adopted from the county shelter at 8 weeks has never had any of the obvious abandonment issues the four year old has. Cats form colonies and dogs form packs. If Batkis is such an “expert” she should know that pack animals like dogs require stability in their companions, be they other dogs or people. She can’t justify stealing the dog from a pack that has accepted him and that he has accepted when it’s a good home even though there are minors under “gasp” the age of 14. Iggy should never have been placed with Portia and Ellen, but since Mutts and Moms didn’t do the job they claim to be experts at, he was. Ellen spends thousands to try and train a dog that should never have been placed in her and Portia’s home and does the right thing when training fails and finds a better home for Iggy than the dog placing geniuses at Mutts and Moms could and the incompetant control freak bullies a cop and an animal control officer into become accessories to a dog theft which is either petty theft or grand larceny (if the judge finds that the dog is worth more than $400.)

Many of these rescue adoptions/sales contracts have provisions in them that a judge would laugh at and violate the consumer’s rights. As much as we love our animals, as far as the state is concerned, they are property. There are no laws governing “adoptions” because technically you buy an animal no matter what you call it or sign whatever crazy illegal agreement the people that rescued the cutest of the cute animals in the kill shelter make you sign before you make it part of your family. If it’s come to this, a wacko stealing a dog she sold back, then the courts and government need to step in and regulate the rescue business. Rescue’s need to let go once they’ve done their job (which Mutts and Moms neglected to do according to their own guidelines when they adopted Iggy to DeRossi) and move onto the next animal needing a home and let the new owners care for or if needed find a better fit for the animal they purchase. It’s fine if the rescue offers to take the animal back if it doesn’t work out, but to repossess another’s property that’s been bought and paid for is theft.

Perhaps ou were trying to do the right thing, but you may have went about it the wrong way. JIll
I hope everyone can work it out and it is not just a ploy for a huge lawsuit. Jill

Ellen can go to the pound and find a puppy that will grow up with the cats and they can all be one happy and gay family.
(That’s a joke – ok)

I am disgusted by the hate mail and posts I am reading everywhere that are attacking this woman, Marina Baktis of Mutts & Moms.org, for doing the right and responsible thing.
Marina Baktis is not cruel nor heartless, but instead one of the most responsible dog adoption agency owners I have ever dealt with. And, I have dealt with many- including shelters, humane societies and other dog adoption agencies.

At Mutts and Moms.org they care so much about the placement of the dogs, and are so concerned about people who may simply ‘give the dog away to god knows who’ if they can’t deal with it, that they make it very clear in their contract that the dog MUST be returned to them so they can be assured of placing it in the “right” great home. Ms. Baktis is extra stringent in finding the best homes for dogs because she loves them so very much.

Do you know how many people treat adopted dogs like crap??
Or fail to consider things in the environment that may be wrong for the dog like other pets or ruthless kids or the neighborhood or the hours kept by the owners, etc.?
Do you know how many people just give them away to others who say they can care for the dog, but really can’t?
Why do you think we have so many dogs in shelters!?

Portia de Rossi clearly signed the contract -and no doubt had lengthy discussions with Marina, who, I know, from personal experience, makes it very clear that Mutts and Moms takes it upon themselves to be responsible for the dog’s happiness if the adopter cannot keep the dog for whatever reason. And that’s no easy feat. Marina puts the dog’s needs FIRST over crying kids and weepy talk show hosts.

Marina Baktis didn’t interview this ‘hairdresser’ or go see the home or the other dog that lives there to make sure Iggy would be safe and happy…therefore she cannot -in good conscience leave the dog there. Don’t people understand that?

Sure, I love Ellen like the rest of America, but she’s not trained to recognize the best home for a dog! She couldn’t even keep Iggy herself! That says something right there.
Why didn’t she (or Portia) just tell Marina that she may have found an appropriate family for the dog and let Mutts and Moms interview the family themselves?

I personally adopted my fabulous dog from Marina Baktis last May and I was so impressed by her deep concern and need to know all details before releasing the dog to me. She continued to e-mail me and stay in touch after the adoption to make sure Indie was (and is) happy.

Unfortunately, a few tears from Ellen and pics of sad kids’ faces have turned the public against one of the kindest, most giving and responsible dog lovers in this country. After all, Marina devotes her life to finding homes for dogs. And good homes at that!

Yes, Ellen broke the contract, and yes there are good reasons for the terms in that contract, but in this case what interest (aside from ego) was served by being so heavy handed? Not that of the family in question, and certainly not that of the adoption agency, who must have their hands full finding suitable homes. What would it have cost them to act like decent human beings and have a look at the family as a potential home?
Nothing. Instead, their heavy-handed, repo-man tactics have resulted in a storm of bad publicity and probably set back the effectiveness of their operation, and oh yeah, broken the heart of a little girl. Nice work.