Paris HiltonParis Hilton is under investigation from the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services after admitting to keeping 17 dogs at her Beverly Hills home.

Paris made the admission while promoting her new clothing range on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday. She told Ellen: “I have 17 dogs, yes - lots.”

“They all sleep in my bed - well, not all of them, but I let some of them. I trade it off so they don’t get jealous. I’ll bring like three out at once.”

She explained she ended up having so many because “they keep having babies and I feel bad about giving them away”: “If I had a baby and someone gave it away for me I feel bad for my dogs.”

She added that now all but two of them have been neutered - but under the city’s rules, anyone owning more than three dogs must have a special breeding license whether or not the animal are being bred.

The Department of Animal Services visited Paris’ home on Tuesday but found that as it is under reconstruction, neither the heiress or the dogs are living there at the moment. Their investigation is said to be ongoing.