Animal rights organisation PETA has criticised Lily Allen after the singer revealed she had given away a puppy for eating her family's passports.
The pop star disclosed on her podcast "Miss Me?" that she and her husband David Harbour are considering getting another dog, despite having taken their previous pet to a dog shelter during lockdown. This admission prompted PETA to urge Allen not to adopt another animal.
Allen, who resides in New York with Harbour, is mother to two daughters, Ethel, 12, and Marnie, 11, from her previous marriage to Sam Cooper, who lives in the UK.
The incident with the passport-eating puppy reportedly occurred during a period when the family was split between two continents.
The 39-year-old said: "[The dog] 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 in covid. And so it was just an absolutely logistical nightmare.
"And 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 f****ing dog had eaten their passports.
"I just couldn't look at her. I was like, 'You've ruined my life'."
She decided to take Mary, the “very badly behaved” dog back, despite making an Instagram profile for her. Mary, she added, also ate other possessions.
"It just didn't work out and the passports was the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak," she added.
The final Instagram post from the account was made on May 6, 2021.
Despite this, Allen said she and Harbour would not rule out buying another dog.
PETA has written an open letter to Allen in condemnation of her actions and asked her to not buy another dog.
Dogs "should never be treated as accessories to be discarded when they become inconvenient,” the letter said.
"It's for this reason that we beg you, please, not to get another dog.
"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 also sent a toy puppy.
“It requires none of the care, patience, or commitment that a real one does,” the group added about the doll.
