Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have adopted a new dog, and her name is guaranteed to get some ABBA stuck in your head.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently welcomed a 7-year-old beagle named Mamma Mia into their home, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
Mamma Mia was one of the 4,000 dogs rescued from the Envigo facility in Cumberland County, Virginia. The facility bred the beagles for research, and was shuttered after receiving more than 70 animal welfare violations.
Shannon Keith, an animal rights attorney who also runs the Beagle Freedom Project, a nonprofit animal rescue organization, spoke to the Times about connecting the duke and duchess with their new family member.
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“The duchess called me personally,” Keith said, telling the outlet that she didn’t recognize the caller right away, and for good reason.
“She calls on my cell with no caller ID and says, ‘Hey Shannon, this is Meghan,’” she said. “We talked for 30 minutes, and I thought, ‘Is this Megan Fox?’”
The royals later met with Keith and played with some of the dogs up for adoption before going home with Mamma Mia. They chose Mamma Mia ― instead of her puppies ― because she was older, since older dogs sometimes face more obstacles in adoption.
Before the two left with Mamma Mia, Keith said, the Duke of Sussex asked a very important question.
“He’s just like, ‘Well, we can’t leave yet because there’s something in that back house she needs. Does she have a favorite toy or something?’” the attorney said. After she grabbed the toy in question, the two were off.
Harry, Meghan and their two children Archie and Lilibet also have two other dogs: Pula and Guy. The two featured prominently in the couple’s 2020 holiday card. The couple also have some rescue chickens that live at their home in Montecito, California.
Meghan rescued Guy, who is also a beagle, in 2015 at a Pet Valu adoption event in Ontario, Canada. The event was in partnership with the rescue group A Dog’s Dream Rescue.
Alison Preiss, a marketing manager at Pet Valu, told HuffPost all about the adoption in a 2017 interview. Meghan had already adopted a dog named Bogart and wanted a friend for her pooch.
Preiss said that adoption “was important” to the former “Suits” actor, who likely saw it as “a chance to give back by adopting two dogs.”
“I think that Meghan has definitely shown that she is the type of person who believes in a kinder way of life,” the manager said at the time.
The duchess even managed to impress A Dog’s Dream Rescue founder Dolores Doherty with the speediness of her application.
“She was really well prepared,” Preiss said. “Meghan got in touch with [Doherty] through Petfinder and Dolores said, ‘Here’s an application,’ and Meghan had hers back within 10 minutes.”
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