True animal lovers (not the kind to which Judge Darrell White was referring when speaking in opposition to the One Baton Rouge resolution) understand that often the bonds between people and their pets can become stronger than those with other human beings. If you need proof, just consider how many New Orleanians refused to evacuate during Katrina because they couldn’t bring their four-legged family members with them.

That’s why we can’t understand why Mutts & Moms, a rescue group whose raison d’être is to place animals with loving families, removed an adorable, black, Brussels Griffon-terrier mix puppy named Iggy from such an environment in the home of Ellen DeGeneres’ hairdresser. Their actions resulted in DeGeneres tearfully pleading on her nationally televised show for the agency to return Iggy to the home where the hairdresser’s two devastated daughters had developed an emotional bond with the pooch.

Those heartless bastards actually made America’s favorite lesbian break down on national television. Of course, some might argue that America’s favorite lesbian is Hillary Clinton, but that’s another topic for another article.

Iggy was originally adopted by DeGeneres and her partner, actress Portia de Rossi, but he was later given to the hairdresser after the dog couldn’t learn to get along with the couple’s two cats. DeGeneres even reportedly spent $3000 on special lessons to help Iggy cohabitate with the felines. At least she didn’t waste money on housebreaking lessons, since DeGeneres and de Rossi are experts at cleaning carpet.

The hairdresser’s family already had an older dog, and they were looking for a puppy, so it seemed like a natural solution to give Iggy to them. Regrettably, the Nazis at Mutts & Moms repossessed Iggy like an over-financed Hyundai Sonata when they found out that he had been “re-homed.”

Sure, the adoption contract that DeGeneres and de Rossi signed had a standard safety net clause that required them to return Iggy to the agency if the placement failed, but most private adoption groups admit that there was no need for them to go Janet Reno on the dog and extricate him like Elián Gonzalez. While these groups agree that such an agency should be kept in the loop as to the animal’s whereabouts, they fear that the ensuing brouhaha could hurt the public’s perception of animal rescue groups and deter people from adopting homeless pets.

According to Mutts & Moms spokesman Kevin A. Frink, the group does not permit families with children under 14 years old to adopt small dogs. The hairdresser’s two daughters are 11 and12. Most adoption advocates believe that such an inflexible policy is exceedingly restrictive and that evaluations should be done on a case-by-case basis.

After all is said and done, the ultimate goal is to place the animal in a good home, not to satiate the hunger for a power trip over a beloved celebrity, which seemed to be the true aim of Mutts & Moms owners Marina Baktis and Vanessa Chekroun. In fact, a spokesman for Baktis said she wouldn’t be “bullied around by the Ellen DeGenereses of the world.”

“If Ellen wants to place dogs and decide what’s a good home, then she should start her own rescue group,” Baktis told Inside Edition. “But I’m the one doing this and I know what I’m doing.”

We beg to differ. What she did, in reality, was turn thousands of DeGeneres’ fans and animal lovers against them, so much so that Mutts & Moms had to inactivate their website on Petfinder.com. They even received death threats.

While we don’t condone violence, we can see how some people might overreact in such a manner. After all, there is nothing worse than a sad lesbian…except a sad lesbian clown.