Lily Allen Defends Decision to Return Adopted Dog That Ate Her Passport

Lily Allen is facing controversy from PETA after sharing a recent incident, and she is not holding back in her response.

The 39-year-old “Smile” singer faced a wave of criticism on social media following her admission on the “Miss Me?” podcast that she returned a dog she had adopted because “it ate my passport, and so I took her back to the home.”

Allen elaborated that the dog ate all three of their passports, which also contained their visas. “I cannot tell you how much money it cost me to get everything replaced, because it was in COVID, and so it was just an absolute logistical nightmare. Because the father of my children lives in England, I couldn’t get them back to see their dad for like four months, five months, because this (expletive) dog had eaten the passports.”

Married to David Harbour and a mother to two kids with her ex-husband Sam Cooper, Allen confessed she could no longer “look” at her dog, Mary, after the passport ordeal. “I was like, ‘You’ve ruined my life,'” she noted.

Allen clarified that the passport incident wasn’t the sole reason for returning Mary. She described the pet as “very badly behaved,” despite her best efforts to manage the situation. “Really tried very hard with her, but it just didn’t work out, and the passports were the straw that broke the camel’s back,” she said, also hinting at possibly getting a new puppy soon.

The singer’s comments quickly went viral, drawing widespread criticism. One user on X, previously known as Twitter, suggested Allen’s “own stupidity” was to blame for leaving passports in a location accessible to the dog.

PETA U.K. addressed a letter to Allen, offering to send her a mechanical dog toy as it would be the “only animal” she should welcome into her home. “While you could get new passports and rebook your flights, Mary may spend many months in the shelter waiting for a new family – if she’s lucky enough to find one at all,” PETA U.K. Vice President Elisa Allen wrote to the singer, emphasizing that pets should never be treated as disposable accessories.

In response, Allen released an extensive statement on X and Instagram, accusing the media of “deliberately distorting” her comments. She also revealed she had received “abhorrent messages including death threats.”

Allen explained that she loved Mary “very much” but the dog suffered from severe separation anxiety, which led to various behavioral issues. “She couldn’t be left alone for more than 10 minutes, she had three long walks a day, two by us and one 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 behavioral specialist and a professional trainer. After many months of deliberation, everyone agreed that our home wasn’t the best fit for Mary,” she wrote.

The Grammy nominee added that Mary was rehomed with an acquaintance within 24 hours of being returned. “I’ve had rescue dogs pretty consistently throughout my life since I was 4 years old. I’m pretty good at ascertaining a dog’s needs. I have never been accused of mistreating an animal, and I’ve found this whole week very distressing,” Allen noted.

PETA, however, remained unsatisfied. They replied to Allen on X, pointing out that she “laughed” on the podcast “when speaking about abandoning Mary and ruined this poor dog’s life,” and declared, “Shame on you. You don’t deserve even the toy dog we sent you.” Allen fired back, asserting that “people laugh when they talk about painful things all the time” and criticized PETA for “perpetuating lies” with their “dangerous” post.

Allen had introduced her fans to Mary in a 2021 Instagram post, promising that they would “be seeing a lot more of her.” The singer later made headlines earlier this year on a “Radio Times” podcast, sharing that her children “ruined my career.” She elaborated, “I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, totally ruined it. It really annoys me when people say you can have it all because, quite frankly, you can’t. … I chose stepping back and concentrating on them, and I’m glad that I have done that because I think they’re pretty well-rounded people.”

Source: USA TODAY