Singer Lily Allen has spoken out about receiving death threats after returning an adopted dog. The 39-year-old recently confessed online that the rescued dog “ate” her family’s passports, prompting her to return the animal to the shelter because it would cost her too much to replace them. The singer claimed the dog, which she named Mary, also exhibited behavioral problems that did not improve after additional training from a canine behavioral specialist. Ms. Allen said returning the animal was difficult but added, “We couldn’t meet Mary’s needs, and her happiness and welfare were central to us.”
Nevertheless, social media users were outraged by the story, and Allen said several responded with vicious verbal attacks and threats. The singer lashed out at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization, calling them irresponsible for posting to Twitter that animals should not be abandoned when they become “inconvenient.”
A war of words broke out between the two parties when PETA replied to Allen’s accusation that the group had added “fuel to the fire” and encouraged the harassment. PETA’s official Twitter account hit back, saying Allen had “laughed” while “ruining this poor dog’s life.” Allen responded and insisted she had not abandoned the animal, and she only laughed because she was emotional. “People laugh when they talk about painful things,” she said. PETA told Allen she didn’t deserve a dog.
It is not the first time Ms. Allen’s controversial comments have gotten her into hot water. She also spurred a backlash when she said her children had “ruined” her career. Allen spoke about her own childhood and her absent parents, saying she did not want to do the same to her two daughters, and so could not continue producing music.
She sparked further outrage in the UK at the height of the country’s “grooming gang” scandal in 2018 when she suggested that the victims, abused by organized groups of Muslim and immigrant men, would probably have been sexually abused “by somebody else at some point.” The comments came after nine Muslim men were jailed for forcing young white girls into prostitution – a crime that plagues the UK. Allen later apologized for her remarks.
