Lily Allen has hit out at PETA after the animal rights group sent her a brutal gift following the admission that she rehomed her dog for eating her passport.
It all started when the 39-year-old singer opened up about her adopted pet pooch that 'ruined her life' on a recent episode of her Miss Me? podcast.
She said the small dog, called Mary, moved in with her two kids in her New York townhouse.
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"We actually did adopt a dog already, but then it ate my passport and so I took her back to the home," the musician explained.
"She ate all three of our passports and they had our visas in.
"And I cannot tell you how much money it cost me to get everything replaced, because it was Covid so it was just an absolute logistical nightmare.
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"And because the father of my children lives in England, I couldn't take them back to see their dad for like four months, five months, because this f**king dog had eaten the passports.
"And I just couldn't look at her. I was like 'You've ruined my life'."
The comments were met by a fair bit of backlash after animal charity PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) issued an open letter to Allen, asking: "Couldn’t you have put your important documents in a drawer?"
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PETA also sent her a mechanical dog with the message: "It really is the only animal you should bring into your home."
However, Allen has since taken to social media to call out the organisation 'for adding fuel to the fire'.
"I've had rescue dogs pretty consistently throughout my life since I was four years old, I'm pretty good at ascertaining a dogs needs, I have never been accused of mistreating an animal, and I've found this whole week very distressing," she said, adding: "We rescued our puppy Mary from a shelter in NY and we loved her very much, BUT she developed pretty severe separation anxiety and would act out in all manner of ways."
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Allen continued: "She couldn't be left alone for more than 10 mins, she had three long walks a day two by us and 1 with a local dog walker and several other dogs, we worked with the shelter that we rescued her from and they referred us to a behavioural specialist and a professional trainer, it was a volunteer from the shelter who would come and dog sit her when we were away, and after many months and much deliberation everyone was in agreement that our home wasn't the best fit for Mary."
PETA hit back at Allen's tweets, writing: "YOU laughed when speaking about abandoning Mary and ruined this poor dog’s life.
"She thought she had a loving forever home before you tossed her out, calling her 'that f******* dog' who 'ruined my life'.
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"Shame on you. You don’t deserve even the toy dog we sent you."
Allen replied: "People laugh when they talk about painful things all the time, it’s quite normal.
"I’ve clarified that we didn’t abandon her and that she was rehomed with people we knew almost immediately.
"Why are you perpetuating lies? What kind of animal welfare charity tries to shame someone for wanting to improver the welfare of an animal. Your post is dangerous."
PETA's response read: "As someone high profile with a platform, what you say matters. Laughing about this f******” dog being sent back sends a dangerous message. Every move is traumatic to a homeless dog who then can never expect this home is forever."
Topics: Lily Allen, Animals, Dogs, Celebrity
Anish Vij