American comedian Ellen DeGeneres has caused an unlikely scandal after breaking down and sobbing on television.

The show business veteran bawled for several minutes on her syndicated chat show yesterday as she told the audience about an unfortunate incident involving a dog, her hairdresser and a canine contract.

The 49-year-old explained she had adopted a puppy named Iggy from an animal rescue centre on September 20, but, despite training and neutering, Iggy failed to impress the comedian’s cats. On hearing her hairdresser was looking for a family pet, and to prevent her feline friends suffering further distress, DeGeneres gave the dog away.

When pet rescue agency Mutts and Moms heard of Iggy’s new domestic arrangements, it informed DeGeneres that giving away the Brussels Griffon terrier cross was a breach of the adoption contract she had signed. The agency reclaimed the dog, leaving the hairdresser’s two young daughters distraught.

Snuffling into a tissue, DeGeneres, the long-term partner of actress Portia de Rossi, said the incident had left her unable to pretend she was happy for The Ellen DeGeneres Show cameras.

“I’m a human being and I have bad days and I have sad days. But when I walk out here and you all cheer and when you’re here to dance, you’re here to laugh, and I know I make people happy it changes my mood. I come out here and I can do anything because of the energy I get. But today is a hard day for me. Today is bad. I am not capable of coming out and pretending to be funny and ‘on’ when things are going so terribly wrong right now. I’m so sorry - I’m just not able to pretend.”

She went on to beg Mutts and Moms to return the dog to her hairdresser’s family.

“Well, I guess I signed a piece of paper that says if I can’t keep Iggy, it goes back to the rescue organisation, which is not someone’s home, which is not a family. These two little girls had bonded to the dog. I thought I did a good thing. I tried to find a loving home for the dog because I couldn’t keep it. I was trying to do a good thing.

"Because I did it wrong, those people went and took that dog out of their home, and took it away from those kids. I feel totally responsible for it and I’m so sorry. I’m begging them to give that dog back to that family. I just want the family to have their dog. 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. I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I’m sorry I did the wrong thing. Just give it back to the family. Please, please, please."

The tear-soaked performance, on a show that not only screens across America but around the world, instantly won DeGeneres both fans and enemies. Her website was awash with the type of messages of support usually reserved for divorce or bereavement.

“My heart goes out to you,” posted one fan named Lynn. “Just keep your head up high and know that what you did from your heart was [the] right thing to do for Iggy.”

“I feel your pain and I have empathy for you,” wrote Allison Hibbard, “You do the best you can, think of the puppy's best interest at heart, and it blows up in your face. It's a heart wrenching feeling!”

But any sympathy Mutts and Moms owners Marina Batkis and Vanessa Chekroun had for DeGeneres has evaporated. The pair have reportedly received death threats since the show screened and are now taking a stand, insisting through their lawyer, that will not be bullied and Iggy will not be returned.

The American media, whipped into a frenzy by DeGeneres’s tears, are now beginning to swing in behind Batkis and Chekroun, reporting on their distress, DeGeneres's clear breach of a contract, and clear Mutts and Moms rules that say small dogs can not go to families with young children.

It is not the first time DeGeneres has courted controversy on television. In 1997 she made history, as well as enemies, when her character on mainstream sitcom The Ellen show came out as a lesbian.

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