Prince Harry and Meghan adopt beagle rescue dog called Mamma Mia

The royal couple asked to save one of the older animals from a harrowing breeding facility

It is not the first time Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have adopted a rescue dog. Getty Images
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Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have added to their family by adopting a dog.

Shannon Keith, president and founder of the Beagle Freedom Project, confirmed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have rehomed Mamma Mia, 7, who was one of 4,000 beagles rescued from a Virginia breeding facility.

Keith told the Los Angeles Times the duchess called her directly earlier this month and specifically said she wanted an older dog, not a puppy.

Meghan is known for her love of beagles and previously rescued Guy before marrying Prince Harry.

"The duchess called me personally," Keith said. “She calls on my cell with no Caller ID and says: ‘Hey Shannon, this is Meghan.' We talked for 30 minutes, and I thought, 'Is this Megan Fox?'"

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Keith is an animal rights attorney and runs the Beagle Freedom Project from a Los Angeles home. According to the animal activist, the couple came to meet Mamma Mia "after-hours".

"The duchess is holding Mia and was like: 'We’re adopting her,'" Keith told the newspaper. "She was like: 'No, we don’t want a Christmas puppy … We want ones we can help who are older'."

Both Prince Harry and Meghan are known dog lovers.

Meghan had two dogs, Guy, a beagle, and Bogart, a mixed breed, when she met Prince Harry. Guy moved to London with her, however Bogart remained in Toronto, Canada.

In 2018, the couple adopted a black Labrador rescue dog, who they have named Pula, named after the Botswanan currency, according Omid Scobie's book, Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family. The couple famously went to Botswana for a safari trip on their third date.

In the same year, children's authors Camille March and Michael Brumm unofficially told Guy's rags to riches story in a book written on his behalf called His Royal Dogness, Guy the Beagle: The Rebarkable True Story of Meghan Markle's Rescue Dog.

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Updated: August 25, 2022, 12:40 PM