People are furious at Lena Dunham for making up her rescue dog’s history of abuse

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People are furious at Lena Dunham for making up her rescue dog’s history of abuse

The shelter have replied, calling out her claim

Last week Lena Dunham took to Instagram to explain why her “beloved” dog, Lamby, has been missing from her feed, in a shattering tale of abuse, frustration and an ultimate inability to change.

“Well, you know honesty is my jam,” she began, “but this one has been really heartbreaking to talk about.”

Lena explained how she gave her dog away because of its history of abuse

She recently gave Lamby over to a facility in Los Angeles because she could no longer live with the dog’s “untreatable illnesses,” and “aggression” — the dog, apparently “biting and peeing in his own mouth.”

She claimed Lamby, “suffered terrible abuse as a pup that made having him in a typical home environment dangerous to him and others.”

All of this did pull at the heartstrings — even for the most adamant Dunham hater out there — until the shelter responded with a very different account of the pup’s formative years.

The shelter released a response

“We checked the records for Lamby,” Robert Vasquez, A spokesperson for BARC Shelter in Brooklyn told Yahoo News. “He was ‘owner surrendered, not enough time’ so we don’t know where she got ‘multiple owners abused that dog’ (something she said in a New Yorker piece — ‘three other homes, three other names, but now he’s mine, mine, mine.’)”

He went on, “When she adopted the dog from us it wasn’t crazy. Do you think BARC would have adopted him to Lena knowing she’s a star, and put her — or the dog — in that situation? We would have told her if the dog had issues. We are a no-kill shelter. We don’t lie about dogs’ histories.”

That’s when angry people began piling in

Even people who had never had opinions before

The original Instagram has since been deleted, but you can still view screenshots of it.

She’s posted a response to the backlash

“It’s come to my attention the staff where I adopted Lamby have a very different account of his early life and behavioral issues than I do.”

It's come to my attention that the staff at the shelter where I adopted Lamby have a very different account of his early life and behavioral issues than I do. While I'm sorry to have disappointed them, I can't apologize. Lamby was and is one of the great loves of my life. When I met him I knew we'd have an amazing journey. But his aggression – which was unpredictable- and his particular issues, which remain myriad, weren't manageable, at least not by me. I did what I thought the best mother would do, which was to give him a life that provided for his specific needs. He'd been with me for nearly four years and I was his mom- I was in the best position to discern what those needs were. After countless hours of training, endless financial support and a lot of tears he was given access to a better 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. Why should this story be subject to scrutiny and anger? It is willfully misunderstanding the truth. I hope those judging can imagine the incredible pain of letting go of your favorite creature on EARTH because you know you can't help them be healthy and happy. I would never say an unkind word about the staff of BARC, what they do is amazing and life saving for these animals- but we have different accounts of Lamby's behavior and they were not present in my home nor did they live with him for an extended period. They did not witness the consistent and responsible care I provided. I have weathered a lot of micro-scandals but this one hurts MOST, because of the vulnerability of letting people know Lamby and my story, and because I miss him so damn much. This is the painting that greets me every day when I walk into my home. This is the animal who taught me about loving and letting go. 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.

A post shared by Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) on Jul 6, 2017 at 5:36pm PDT

“It’s just hard to believe the dog was nasty when she took Lamby to every green room with her when Girls was still a thing four years ago,” the BARC rep replied.

@carolinephinney