A New York animal shelter is claiming Lena Dunham made up a story about her dog being abused by her previous owners after the Girls actress sent her pet to a facility that helps dogs with behavioral issues.
In a post to her Instagram account in June, Dunham said she had sent her dog Lamby to live at The Zen Dog, a Los Angeles dog treatment facility, in March after “four years of challenging behavior and aggression” problems that she could not treat on her own.
“Lamby suffered terrible abuse as a pup that made having him in a typical home environment dangerous to him and others- we needed to be responsible to ourselves, our neighbors and especially our beloved boy,” the actress wrote. “Jack [Antonoff] and I will miss him forever but sometimes when you love something you have to let it go (especially when it requires tetanus shots and stitches.)”
The actress’s Instagram story appeared to be the heartbreaking final chapter in a long saga for the dog, who became famous when he was profiled in a New Yorker essay written by Dunham in 2013. Lamby ultimately came to have his own Instagram account, where he posed alongside his owner and the cast of Girls, and with Dunham’s boyfriend, Jack Antonoff.
But in an interview with Yahoo Celebrity this week, a spokesman for the Brooklyn Animal Rescue Coalition (BARC) denied Dunham’s version of the story, explaining that the dog had not suffered abuse from multiple owners prior to his adoption.
“We checked the records for Lamby,” BARC rep Robert Vazquez told the outlet. “He was ‘owner surrendered, not enough time,’ so we do not know where she got ‘multiple owners that abused the dog.’”
Vasquez added that he was personally in charge of dog adoptions for the last 14-15 years at the animal shelter, and that Lamby “wasn’t crazy” when Dunham adopted him.
“If Lamby had a bad past or was abused, do you think BARC would have adopted him to Lena knowing she’s a new star and put her — or the dog — in that situation?” Vasquez said. “We would have told her if the dog had issues. We are a no-kill shelter. We don’t lie about the dogs’ histories because that gets them returned — and mentally it’s not good for dogs.”
“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 4 years ago,” he added.
Dunham fired back in another Instagram post this week, saying that her own account of Lamby’s upbringing differed from that of the shelter’s, and that she wouldn’t apologize for her claims.
“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,” she wrote.
“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,” she added. “They did not witness the consistent and responsible care I provided.”
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum