--- title: Animal Shelter Slams Lena Dunham Over Claim Dog Abuse Claims description: An animal shelter is disputing Lena Dunahm's story about how her dog suffered a history of abuse. canonical: https://time.com/4849464/lena-dunham-on-dog/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-07T20:13:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:45:13.212Z og:title: Animal Shelter Disputes Lena Dunham's Dog Tale og:description: "When she adopted the dog from us, it wasn’t crazy" og:url: https://time.com/4849464/lena-dunham-on-dog/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc10cb0a909793e/6988d4e897cdff286e6b181c/lena-dunham-dog-controversy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: BAMcinemaFest 2017 Screening Of "Landline" og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Animal Shelter Disputes Lena Dunham's Dog Tale twitter:description: "When she adopted the dog from us, it wasn’t crazy" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfc10cb0a909793e/6988d4e897cdff286e6b181c/lena-dunham-dog-controversy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lena Dunham Responds to Animal Shelter Disputing Her Dog Tale > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=899e4dbe-14dd-4c12-976f-99c19402e265&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 7, 2017 8:13 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 17: Actress Lena Dunham attends the BAMcinemaFest 2017 screening of "Landline" at BAM Harvey Theater on June 17, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage) NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 17: Actress Lena Dunham attends the BAMcinemaFest 2017 screening of "Landline" at BAM Harvey Theater on June 17, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage) Noam Galai—WireImage  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 7, 2017 8:13 PM UTC New developments have surfaced in what seems to be a lengthy tale about [Lena Dunham](http://time.com/4306966/lena-dunham-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/) and her former dog Lamby. The [_Girls_](http://time.com/4741965/girls-finale-review-latching/) creator introduced Lamby to the world in 2014 via [his own Instagram account](https://www.instagram.com/lamby%5Fantonoff/?hl=en), [a _Vogue_ editorial spread](http://www.vogue.com/slideshow/lena-dunham-february-2014-photos), and a [_New Yorker_ essay ](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/03/25/a-box-of-puppies)detailing how she adopted and beloved the pooch despite her live-in boyfriend Jack Antonoff’s allergies to dogs and Lamby’s affinity for biting people. Earlier in June, Dunham [explained Lamby’s absence from her social media presence in a personal Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/BVlp8TEFRge/?taken-by=lenadunham&hl=en), saying it was because she had sent him to the Zen Dog canine rehabilitation center in Los Angeles because of aggression issues that she wrote stemmed from abuse as a puppy. She also wrote that Lamby had a loving trainer. Now, the New York City animal shelter that Dunham adopted Lamby from, BARC, has disputed Dunham’s account about the history of abuse. In an email sent to [_Yahoo_](https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/animal-shelter-disputes-lena-dunhams-story-lamby-dog-gave-away-195715227.html)_,_ Robert Vasquez, a spokesman with the no-kill shelter, alleged that Dunham’s story doesn’t line up with the dog’s records. “When she adopted the dog from us, it wasn’t crazy,” Vazquez wrote. “I have pictures of the dog loving on Lena and her mom, which is weird if the dog was abused. It wouldn’t be cuddling with her or be in the bed with her ‘boyfriend’ in the pages of _Vogue_…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.” In a response Dunham posted to Instagram on Thursday, she acknowledged that their accounts differed writing that Lamby’s “aggression – which was unpredictable- and his particular issues, which remain myriad, weren’t manageable, at least not by me. “Why should this story be subject to scrutiny and anger?” Dunham wrote. “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. 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