On an episode of her podcast, Miss Me, posted Aug. 22, English singer Lily Allen told a story about the dog she adopted and later returned. She was likely not prepared for the amount of backlash she'd receive because of it. Now, Lily, 39, is speaking out about the "abhorrent messages" and "death threats" she has received.
On the podcast, Lily revealed that she and her husband, Stranger Things star David Harbour, previously decided to adopt a dog but later decided that their home was not a good fit for the puppy.
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The dog ate their passports.
"She ate all three of our passports, and they had our visas," Lily said on the podcast, referring to passports that belonged to her and her two daughters. "And 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."
Lily shares her children with her ex-husband, Sam Cooper, who lives in England. Because their kids didn't have passports after their dog ate them, they weren't able to see their dad for months, Lily said on the podcast.
The passports were just the final straw.
Although Lily described the passport situation as "the straw that broke the camel’s back," she said there were other reasons she decided to rehome of her dog. "Passports weren’t the only things she ate. She was a very badly behaved dog, and I really tried very hard with her, but it didn’t work out," she said on the podcast.
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She has received death threats.
On August 25, Lily took to social media to address the backlash she's been dealing with after the story about her dog came to light. She said she has received "really abhorrent messages including death threats, some of the most disgusting comments have been all over my social media channels."
Although she said she's fine, she admitted that "it has been a really tough few days that has impacted me and my family."
She provided more information about the dog, Mary.
Lily believes that much of the backlash comes from people who have not listened to the podcast. Instead, they've probably been reacting to "clickbait articles," she wrote on X. On the platform, she provided some more background information about the dog, who is named Mary.
"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," she wrote.
They tried to make it work.
Before making the decision to rehome Mary, Lily and her family tried to work with professionals to help the puppy adjust.
"She couldn't be left alone for more than 10 mins, she had 3 long walks a day 2 by us and 1 with a local dog walker and several other dogs," Lily explained, adding that she and her family "worked with the shelter that we rescued her from and they referred us to a behavioral specialist and a professional trainer."
The decision to find a new home for Mary wasn't easy and came "after many months and much deliberation," she said.
Mary was quickly rehomed.
Lily also provided some more information about what happened to the puppy after she and her family decided that "our home wasn't the best fit for Mary."
"The person that she was rehomed with was known to us and that rehoming happened within 24 hours of her being returned," she wrote on X. "We couldn't meet Mary's needs and her happiness and welfare were central to us making that decision, as difficult as it was."
Additionally, Lily has been around dogs for much of her life, and she finds the allegations of animal abuse hurtful and appalling.
"I've had rescue dogs pretty consistently throughout my life since I was 4 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 wrote on X.
