Lily Allen responds to backlash after returning adopted dog who ate her passport

Lily Allen is in the doghouse with PETA after a recent revelation, but she's firing back.

The "Smile" singer, 39, faced backlash on social media after revealing on the "Miss Me?" podcast that she returned a dog she adopted because "it ate my passport, and so I took her back to the home."

"She ate all three of our passports, and they had our visas in," she explained. "I cannot tell you how much money it cost me to get everything replaced, because it was in COVID, and so it was just an absolute logistical nightmare. Because the father of my children lives in England, I couldn't get them back to see their dad for like four months, five months, because this (expletive) dog had eaten the passports."

Allen, who is married to David Harbour and shares two kids with ex-husband Sam Cooper, continued that she could not "look" at her dog Mary again after this incident. "I was like, 'You've ruined my life,'" she said.

Allen clarified that this wasn't the only reason she returned the dog, though, saying that the pet was "very badly behaved" and she "really tried very hard with her, but it just didn't work out, and the passports was the straw that broke the camel's back." Allen also revealed that she may be getting a new puppy soon.

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But the singer received criticism after her quotes went viral, with one X user writing that Allen's "own stupidity" was to blame given she "left passports in a place that the dog could get to them."

PETA U.K. also wrote a letter to Allen and said it would send her a mechanical dog toy because this is the "only animal" she should bring into her home.

"While you could get new passports and rebook your flights, Mary may spend many months in the shelter waiting for a new family – if she's lucky enough to find one at all," PETA U.K. Vice President Elisa Allen wrote to the singer. "They should never be treated as accessories to be discarded when they become inconvenient."

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In a lengthy statement shared on X and Instagram, Allen responded to the backlash by arguing her quotes had been "deliberately distorted" by the media, and she said she has received "abhorrent messages including death threats."

She went on to stress that she loved Mary "very much" but that the pet developed "pretty severe separation anxiety and would act out in all manner of ways."

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"She couldn't be left alone for more than 10 mins, she had 3 long walks a day 2 by us and 1 with a local dog walker and several other dogs, we worked with the shelter that we rescued her from and they referred us to a behavioral specialist and a professional trainer, it was a volunteer from the shelter who would come and dog sit her when we were away, and after many months and much deliberation everyone was in agreement that our home wasn't the best fit for Mary," Allen wrote.

The Grammy nominee also said Mary was rehomed with a person known to her within 24 hours of being returned.

"I've had rescue dogs pretty consistently throughout my life since I was 4 years old, I'm pretty good at ascertaining a dogs needs, I have never been accused of mistreating an animal, and I've found this whole week very distressing," Allen said.

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But PETA did not appear satisfied by this response, replying to Allen on X that she "laughed" on the podcast "when speaking about abandoning Mary and ruined this poor dog's life," adding, "Shame on you. You don't deserve even the toy dog we sent you." Allen shot back that "people laugh when they talk about painful things all the time" and slammed PETA for "perpetuating lies" with its "dangerous" post.

Allen introduced fans to Mary in a 2021 Instagram post, telling followers at the time that they would "be seeing a lot more of her."

The singer previously made headlines earlier this year after sharing in a "Radio Times" podcast episode that her children "ruined my career."

"I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, totally ruined it," she said. "It really annoys me when people say you can have it all because, quite frankly, you can't. ... I chose stepping back and concentrating on them, and I'm glad that I have done that, because I think they're pretty well-rounded people."

Contributing: Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY