Ellen under fire for giving away adopted pooch

updated 11:03 p.m. ET Oct. 15, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Ellen DeGeneres is in the doghouse with a pet rescue agency after giving a pooch away to her hairdresser because it didn't get along with her cats.

The talk show hostess and her partner Portia de Rossi adopted Iggy, a Brussels Griffon mix, on Sept. 20. But when things didn't work out, DeGeneres gave the dog to her hairdresser.

In doing so, DeGeneres violated an agreement with the Mutts and Moms agency by not informing them of the handoff.

When the agency called DeGeneres to ask about Iggy, she said she found another home for the dog. The agency sent a representative to the hairdresser's home Sunday and took the dog away.

DeGeneres went public with the doggy ordeal Monday while taping an episode of her show to air Tuesday. She admitted she didn't read all the paperwork involving the adoption.

DeGeneres said she spent $3,000 having the dog neutered and trained to be with her cats. But the dog had too much energy and was too rambunctious, she told her television audience.

"I guess I signed a piece of paper that says if I can't keep Iggy, it goes back to the rescue organization, which is not someone's home, which is not a family," she said in a show transcript provided to The Associated Press.

Slideshow   The week in celebrity sightings Jack puckers up, Britney makes a coffee run, Bono goes to the Hill and more. more photos

"I thought I did a good thing. I tried to find a loving home for the dog because I couldn't keep it."

DeGeneres said her hairdresser's daughters, ages 11 and 12, had bonded with Iggy and were heartbroken when the dog was taken away.

"Because I did it wrong, those people went and took that dog out of their home, and took it away from those kids," a sobbing DeGeneres said on her show.

"I feel totally responsible for it and I'm so sorry. I'm begging them to give that dog back to that family. I just want the family to have their dog. It's not their fault. It's my fault. I shouldn't have given the dog away. Just please give the dog back to those little girls."

Mutts and Moms, a volunteer nonprofit organization in Pasadena, does not have a listed phone number and didn't immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment.

MORE FROM CELEBRITIES

Celebrities Section Front

Reps deny Gyllenhaal, Witherspoon breakup E-mail and a view: Polanski set for house arrest Despite criticism, Lohan to stay on at Ungaro Filmmaker Perry gives $1 million to NAACP Chef Paula Deen hit in face by charity ham Michael Jackson glove sells for $350,000 Michael Jackson’s doctor returns to work Miley Cyrus tour bus overturns, killing driver Britney’s paparazzo ex gets 45 days in jail Access Hollywood section Celebrities Section Front   Add Celebrities headlines to your news reader: