TMZ was the only camera at the home where little Iggy was taken Sunday night, when Ellen and Portia frantically arrived, only to find the dog was already gone.
CLICK IMAGES TO PLAY VIDEOS.
It's emotional, raw and heart-wrenching. Watch Ellen, Portia, Ruby (the little girl) and Cheryl (Ellen's hairstylist) describe the blow-by-blow of how Mutts and Moms steamrolled through the home and took the pup.
Take a look at the backyard confrontation where Marina Baktis of Mutts and Moms scooped up the pooch as cops decided who would walk away with Iggy.
Sweetie, watch the video AGAIN: Marina and her crew came to the house under the (false) pretense of completing a "Home Inspection." The family had inquired about completing new paperwork, so a home inspection seemed very reasonable to them. Once Marina was given access to the house, she marched straight to the back yard. She lied to the hairdressers family about why she was there. Only when it became obvious that she came to their home in bad faith, and wouldn't let the dog go, did they summon the police.
I too am saddened by the situation. ALL of our 4 pets (two dogs, two cats) are rescue / shelter animals. Now my 13 year old daughter is asking me: can they come and take away Maddie (her cat) whenever they want to? Marina acted in bad faith. She did this BECAUSE Ellen De G.is a celebrity. She is a menace to animal welfare groups across the country.
33. oops, sorry for my spelling errors.... ellen, make this right, it was a personal matter, blown to huge proportions. you made the error, you take the blame....get the family another dog. this do good agency will probably go out of business and what will happen then to all their animals?????? this woman is a dog rescuer, devoting her time to doing a job most people would not or could not do.....she doesn't need this aggravation. ellen needs to really set this right.
34. I hope this bitch goes out of buisness because of what she's done. It was all a power play. I feel bad for the rest of the animals at her store that will now be left without homes. Who would want to adopt a pet from someone like that. Marina..if you read this...Karmas a Bitch!!
37. Ellen did not sign the agreement. Portia did. The videos tell the whole story. The woman only did this because it was Ellen. It had nothing to do with the dog or the contract. And the woman already knew where the dog would be going. If you adopt you should be able to do what is best for that animal. It is wrong to threaten the women but they put themselves in this possition by the way they handled the whole mess. Ellen is just an emotional person when it comes to animals and rescue of them. I hope Portia finds a legal way to go after this woman either to get the dog back or to get the $3000 back. I believe she is an attorney and therefore would know the law or could find out. Sure put a black mark on that adoption place.
38. I'm can't quit crying over....hmmm, over....what were their names? Oh yeah, those strangers I lived with for a week or two. I can't go on without...ummm...what were their names again?
39. I think some of the posters here are as unstable as this Marina weasel is. Watching that last video is disturbing. The way she is cradling that dog and moving away. She should have been locked up and medicated long before now because it's a little obvious that she has come unhinged.
Stop whining that Ellen broke the rules because the agency broke their own rules in order to put a dog with a celebrity. Marina thought she was going to get some grand publicity for putting Iggy in a celeb home and she was more than ready to bend the rules in order to have a celeb success story to tell the world about.
If she's such a wonderful animal advocate then why didn't she know Iggy was a bad for a home with cats? Why wasn't he already fixed when he was adopted out? Those are basics for any real rescue. You know whether the animal is a match for toddlers, cats, other dogs, etc. The animal is fixed so there's no chance there will be a little from it later on that might end up in the same situation the first dog was pulled out of.
Mutts & Moms dropped the ball because they had stars in their eyes. Ellen could have been invaluable to their cause. If they'd handled this better and allowed the little girl to keep the dog, they still had a celeb success story. They might have even gotten a shout out on her show. But they had to act like idiots and now they're paying the price.
They threatened to go to the media so enjoy it, losers. It's just proof that this Marina woman is disturbed. She sounds like an animal hoarder. She really should be investigated and I hope she is for the sake of all the other animals she claims to be rescuing. The only point of a real rescue is to find a loving home for the dog. And that's what happened here. The dog had a home and a family who loved him. So it's anyone's guess what these maniacs were trying to accomplish.
They should be proud. They'd given every rescue a black eye. Who's going to want to go through 15 page applications, reference checks, surprise home visits and all that when all they have to do is go to a pet store or the newspaper. So congrats, morons. You just sold thousands of puppies from the mills and backyard breeders.
41. This makes me so sad. This looks like a lovely family who would have given this dog a wonderful home. Yes, Ellen screwed up, but not all rules should be black and white. Shame on this "rescue". Just as Portia said, thanks to Marina, people will now be buying puppy mill dogs at pet stores instead of rescuing needy pups, in order to avoid this type of issue. This will help to prepetuate the horrendous puppy mill industry. Ellen is one of the few positive celebrity role models out there. Ellen and Portia, Keep on keepin on!! We love you!
43. This is an awful situation, but as an aside: what is the go with Portia's accent???? She's a girl from a large country town in Australia and she sounds more American then the rest of them. BTW, feel very sorry for Ruby.
Posted at 9:22PM on Oct 17th 2007 by Mark Thrumon and Rodney King
45. I have to say, listening to Portia and Ellen, they are both so rational and clear.
The initial video I saw of Ellen implied she was not quite clear and just emotional. BUt this makes sense, she is quite level-headed about it. And once you hear how the Mutts & MOM's woman behaved I cannot help but side 100% with Ellen & Portia.
We obtained our Boxer through a rescue, they have the same policy, but they would have allowed us to place him, as long as they could see the home and do the follow-up. They would NEVER swoop in on a Power-trip and whip a dog away like that. What a LOVELY home Iggy was in, and what a fantastic backyard!
