A new, wide-ranging profile of Lena Dunham dismantles one of the internet's favorite (of many) conspiracy theories about the HBO writer and actress: that she mistreats animals, and is directly responsible for the deaths of multiple pets.
Online articles such as this one, unsurprisingly from Babe.net, comprehensively detail the admittedly large number of animals Dunham has owned over the years — she has a penchant for Yorkshire terriers, miniature poodles, and hairless cats. Some of them definitely have died under her care, but apparently of natural causes.
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Speaking to The Cut's Allison P. Davis, Dunham provides a reasonable explanation for the deaths: she tends to adopt older animals from shelters, so they aren't always in the best of health to begin with. And given most celebrities tend to adopt young cute puppies, not 13-year-old terriers with chronic conditions, maybe we should all just cut her some slack.
"You can say a lot of shit about me, but I am a very committed pet owner," Dunham insists. "Ask anybody who works with me on a pet level."
Dunham is also upfront on the subject of her dog Lamby, who she made headlines for adopting then re-homing again, citing behavioral issues. You might recall that an employee at Lamby's original shelter criticized Dunham in the media, saying that Lamby was well-behaved before entering her care.
"What animal-shelter guy is like, 'I'm an electronic DJ, and I'm also looking to talk to Yahoo! Celebrity'? But dragging him through the court of public opinion like that doesn't get me anywhere," Dunham tells Davis. 'It's better just to kick back and be like, 'Okay, sir, you can extend your career by telling people what a bad dog owner I was.'"
So there you have it. Put those particular rumors to rest. Speaking of internet theories though, the profile also provides some interesting (and frankly extremely sympathy-inducing) insights into what it's like to watch your ex-boyfriend flirt with Lorde in front of the entire world.
Read the whole thing here. You can also follow all the drama that goes down in Dunham's menagerie via her dedicated pet Instagram.
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