Celebs who treat their pets terribly

Celebrity pets are often adorable, sometimes exotic, and, unfortunately, sometimes grossly mistreated. Cue the Sarah Mclachlan, because these stars' behavior with their pets will make you want to adopt them to rescue them from the trauma, then cry in a corner for a really long time.

Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber has a pretty poor track record with his pets. His pet capuchin monkey, OG Mally, was confiscated in Germany when the singer was on tour in March 2013, and he admitted more than three years later that it was his fault. He told GQ, "Honestly, everyone told me not to bring the monkey [on tour]…I was like, 'It's gonna be fine, guys!' It was the farthest thing from fine." He added, "In Germany, that monkey's endangered or something…but I had the papers. I even had it written out that he was a circus monkey and he could travel and all that s—. I had all the right papers. Things get twisted." The monkey now lives happily in a zoo.

Unfortunately, Mally wasn't the only critter Bieber doomed. In December 2012, he gave an unsuspecting fan custody of his hamster, and the poor rodent died that March. TMZ reports that the fan took good care of the hamster, but it got sick, and by the time she took it to the vet it was too late.

Perhaps most traumatic was Bieber's bulldog, Karma. Bieber reportedly got Karma for his dad Jeremy, who then left her with a trainer and never returned. Per TMZ, the trainer accused Jeremy of throwing Karma out of a second-story window into a snowbank, so perhaps it's for the best that the Biebers never retrieved the poor pooch.

Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato is allergic to cats, but she believed a hairless sphynx kitten wouldn't trigger her watery, puffy eyes and sneezing. She told Entertainment Tonight, "I actually couldn't keep the cat, I had to give it back the next day because I'm allergic. I thought I wouldn't be because it didn't have any hair!" She's not lying: Sphynx cats, while hairless, still have dander, which is secreted in their saliva. As a result, she had to give away her briefly beloved kitten, Hairy-ette, just one day after taking her home in April. Next time try Googling!


Considering Tyga is neither the most responsible nor the most law-abiding guy around, it's not surprising that he isn't a grrrrrrrrrreat pet owner. Take his once-beloved tiger: Tyga owned the giant cat when it was a cub in early 2014. By May 2014, TMZ reports that California Wildlife officers confiscated the animal, which is illegal to own in the state of California, and Tyga faced criminal charges (with a possible six-month jail sentence). The tiger was placed in a private animal sanctuary, and a rep for the sanctuary later told TMZ that Tyga never bothered to check in on the critter, which they renamed Maverick—and that Tyga hasn't donated a dime to the sanctuary, which is a non-profit organization, even though Maverick costs them $10,000 a year just for food alone.

Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton is a prolific pet owner, but she may not be a good one. The heirhead at one point boasted 35 pets, which she loved showing off, but not all of them met with happy ends: Gawker reports that she failed to get her kitten, Prada, neutered for six months, and when she did take him to the vet for the procedure, she simply abandoned him there. What's more, at one point, she had all of her pets living in her home with no one there to actually watch, nurture, or care for them, save a housekeeper who'd come by to feed them.

Kris Kelly Foundation founder Kris Kelly told Gawker, "We gave Ms. Hilton every opportunity to do the right thing for Prada but she failed to comply and then abandoned him. After seven days no one from her household has even contacted us or the vet's office to check on the wellbeing and whereabouts of poor Prada. We now have Prada in a foster home and have no intention of giving him back to Ms. Hilton. She has proved to be a negligent pet owner."

It doesn't end there: A blind item heavily believed to be about Hilton says that when she gets a new, exciting pet that she doesn't feel like training, she leaves it in a closet, often to die of neglect. Additionally, you know how she keeps dogs in her purses as accessories? That's super-unhealthy for the dogs, and while not entirely her fault, the trend she set by carrying them around resulted in a whole lot of chihuahua abandonment in shelters. As if all of this weren't enough, you know the tiny pets she's been opting for lately, like a six-ounce Pomeranian? Not good, say animal experts. Canine researcher Mia Cobb told The Dodo, "They are bred to meet a fashion ideal purely based on looks, often exaggerating their puppy features, rather than for sound health, good behavior and longevity. Many of these issues may not be immediately apparent to a new puppy owner, but develop or deteriorate over the first year of life."

Kim Kardashian

Kanye West got Kim Kardashian a beautiful kitten named Mercy, named after a song he'd written about her. Sweet, right? Except Kardashian is allergic to cats, something they both should have known (and in her case, likely did know) before making the purchase. E! Online reports that Kardashian gave Mercy to Khloe Kardashian's assistant, whose own cat had recently died. Mercy subsequently died of a breeding-related fatal virus at just four months old. While not exactly West or Kardashian's fault, it does say that the couple didn't bother doing their research and likely would have been better off without a kitten at all…or with one they adopted from a shelter instead of purchasing from a mill.

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres adopted her dog Iggy from the Mutts & Moms adoption agency, and apparently failed to read the fine print of her adoption agreement: when Iggy didn't get along with the cats she and wife Portia De Rossi already owned, she gave him to her hairdresser, which was a big no-no for the agency. People reports that Mutts & Moms swooped in and confiscated Iggy from the hairdresser and her family, including her two young daughters, leading DeGeneres to lead a slew of tearful TV appearances over the incident.

"I guess I signed a piece of paper that says if I can't keep Iggy, it goes back to the rescue organization, which is not someone's home, which is not a family," she said on her show. "I thought I did a good thing. I tried to find a loving home for the dog because I couldn't keep it. Because I did it wrong, those people went and took that dog out of their home, and took it away from those kids," she sobbed. "I feel totally responsible for it and I'm so sorry. I'm begging them to give that dog back to that family. It's not their fault. It's my fault. I shouldn't have given the dog away. Just please give the dog back to those little girls."

Ultimately, Iggy went back to the agency was placed with a different family, much to DeGeneres' chagrin.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson adored his chimpanzee Bubbles, with reports saying the primate slept in a crib in Jackson's room at his Neverland Ranch home and followed him everywhere. However, when he grew too big and rambunctious for Jackson to care for, he was placed in a non-profit sanctuary, and The Daily Express says that Bubbles' behavior suggests he was miserable in Jackson's paparazzi-hounded presence.

"Bubbles does not like cameras. Even when his caregivers try to take a photo, he will turn his back if he sees a camera," a source said. "He occasionally will spit water at people when annoyed about cameras and is able to throw sand with amazing accuracy. Bubbles can be sensitive and dramatic. If he has any kind of cut or scratch on his body, no matter how small, he will show it many times during the day to his caregivers and ask for sympathy."

Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus adores her pets—perhaps a little too much—and she's paid the emotional price for that affection. When her beloved dog Floyd was killed by a coyote, Cyrus was devastated, naming her new band "Miley Cyrus and the Dead Petz" and performing with inflatable huskies onstage. To cheer her up, her mom got her a tiny pooch named Moonie, but Cyrus gave her away because she was too scared to have another small dog. Why?

Well, as Cyrus' mom explained, in 2012, Cyrus' Yorkie mutt Lila died at just two years old when one of Cyrus' other dogs, Ziggy, "grabbed her in just the wrong spot." Ziggy was later adopted by a different family. It seems Cyrus loves animals so much that she may overextend herself, trying to rescue too many and thus spreading her actual attention for each a little too thin.

Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham adopted her beloved pooch, Lamby, from the Brooklyn Animal Rescue Coalition (BARC), and their contract stipulates that if Dunham were to not be able to care for Lamby anymore, he has to be returned to the shelter. But in June 2017, Dunham revealed that she gave Lamby to a Los Angeles facility that cares for dogs with special needs, citing that he was aggressive and had been abused by previous owners.

In July 2017, BARC slammed Dunham's claims, saying Lamby's file had no indication of abuse, that she was in breach of the adoption agreement, and that she got two new puppies before deciding Lamby was a bad fit for her life. A rep for the organization told Page Six, "[Lamby] was mild mannered and very well behaved [at the shelter]. There were no signs of bad temperament or any kind of aggression …the dog became a favorite of our staff and volunteers during his stay here…We had reached out to follow up with Ms. Dunham after she adopted the dog to check on how they were all settling in — but we never heard back from her. If a family of an adoptee reaches out or expresses any unhappiness or behavioral concerns about the animal, we have an open door policy here and ask that the dog be returned to our shelter. Unfortunately, that was not the case with Ms. Dunham."

Dunham passionately defended herself via Instagram. "While I'm sorry to have disappointed [BARC], I can't apologize," she wrote, alongside a painting of her pooch. "Lamby was and is one of the great loves of my life…I still support him financially and I'll always be there for him in every way but he's notably happier in his new surroundings." She added, "I know I'm a lot of fun to place your issues on, but I won't let anyone hang their hat on this peg. Not this time."