Lily Allen: Singer hits back at criticism for returning puppy to shelter for 'eating family's passports'

The British-born ‘Smile’ singer, who now lives in New York with actor husband David Harbour, recently talked about the puppy in her podcast, Miss Me? Allen, 39, said the pup “ruined her life” after it ate her and both of her daughters’ passports and visas, meaning they were unable to go and see their father back in England.

The Sun reported that she was referring to a black and white puppy named Mary that the family adopted in 2021. “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,” Allen said in the podcast. “I just couldn't look at her. I was like 'you've ruined my life'.

“Passports weren't the only thing she ate, she was a very badly behaved dog and I 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 so to speak,” she continued.

Her comments attracted fierce backlash online, including a response from controversial animal rights group PETA. In a press release, they announced that after learning the singer planned to get another dog, they were sending her a mechanical toy pup instead, with the message: “It really is the only animal you should bring into your 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 UK’s vice president Elisa Allen wrote in her letter to Lily. “They should never be treated as accessories to be discarded when they become inconvenient.”

In a response posted to X - formerly known as Twitter - on Sunday, Allen wrote that people had reacted furiously to a “deliberately distorted cobbling together of quotes designed to make people angry”. She said: “As a result, I've received some really abhorrent messages including death threats, some of the most disgusting comments have been all over my social media channels, and I'm really not surprised because this is exactly what those articles are designed to do.”

She had owned rescue dogs since she was a child, she continued, and had “never been accused of mistreating an animal”. The family had loved Mary, but her story was much more complex than a few soundbites could convey.

“She developed pretty severe separation anxiety and would act out in all manner of ways. She couldn't be left alone for more than 10 mins, she had three long walks a day, two by us and one with a local dog walker and several other dogs,” Allen said.

“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.”

The person that she was rehomed with was known to the family, Allen said, and she went to her new home within 24 hours of being returned. “We couldn't meet Mary's needs and her happiness and welfare were central to us making that decision, as difficult as it was.”

She also had a note to PETA, thanking them for “adding fuel to the fire. Very responsible of you”.