Meghan Markle and Prince Harry adopt a rescue dog

Puppy love.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed a new canine member into the family – a beagle rescued from the testing laboratory.

The dog – named Momma Mia – was one of 4,000 beagles seized by the authorities last month after the test lab was closed due to multiple animal welfare violations. The Envigo facility, which sold puppies for use in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research, was found to have: he kept the dogs in deplorable conditions.

Many dogs were found malnourished and kept in cages with faeces and food scraps piled up. Over 300 puppies died in the facility between January and July last year.

Shannon Keith – an animal rights lawyer who leads Beagle Freedom Project and who received many rescued beagles – said the LA Times that she had picked up a call from an unknown number and had no idea who was on the other end.

“He calls my cell phone without caller ID and says,” Hey Shannon, this is Meghan, “recalls Keith. “We talked for 30 minutes and I thought,” Is that Megan Fox? “

She discovered the secret caller’s identity only after the royal couple made a discreet, after-hours visit to see the dogs at home in the San Fernando Valley. No photos were taken and the couple was accompanied by two bodyguards. Mia was taken there along with eight newborn puppies.

Keith added that unlike most people looking to adopt puppies, Markle wanted to help his older dog.

An animal rights activist says that the alumnus of “Suit” detained Mia and announced: “We are adopting her. She said, “No, we don’t want a Christmas puppy … We want the older ones we can help.”

A Markle spokesman told The LA Times that the Duchess had read about the Envigo research facility shutdown and wanted to help.

Markle was a loud supporter of the adoption of rescue dogs. When she moved to Britain to marry Prince Harry, she brought her rescue beagle named Guy with her.

The ‘Archetypes’ podcaster selected Mayhew’s animal welfare charity as one of its first royal patrons when she became a royal in 2018.

Keith shared that when the couple left the shelter, Prince Harry asked if Mia had “a favorite toy or something.”

The seven-year-old beagle has gone with the toy fox to her new luxury home in Montecito, where she will join Guy and a black lab that is probably called Pula.