This beagle named Mamma Mia went from rags to riches after she was rescued from a beagle breeding and research plant along with 4,000 other beagles and ended up being adopted by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Source: Inside Edition/Youtube

That’s right, Prince Harry and Meghan have adopted Mamma Mia and taken the 7-year-old pup to their 7-acre property in Montecito. Shannon Keith, an Animal rights attorney who runs the Beagle Freedom Project, was contacted by a “VIP Donor” who was interested in beagle adoption.

“She calls on my cell with no Caller ID and says, ‘Hey Shannon, this is Meghan,'” Keith told the LA Times. “We talked for 30 minutes, and I thought, ‘Is this Megan Fox?'”

Turns out, it was Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and soon after, she and her husband came after hours to adopt one of the dogs. They ended up playing with Mamma Mia in the backyard. Mamma Mia and her eight puppies were rescued from the Virginia cruel breeding facility and taken to Maryland. Keith thought that the royal couple was interested in one of the puppies, but they did not want a puppy.

“The Duchess is holding Mia and was like, ‘We’re adopting her,'” Keith said. “She was like ‘No, we don’t want a Christmas puppy. … We want ones we can help who are older.'”

This is not the first time Meghan has rescued a beagle. A spokeswoman for Meghan told The Times that she was following the story of the Envigo shutdown and knew that puppies usually find homes easier than the older ones. She knew that she wanted to help these vulnerable pups.

Beagles have been used for testing since the 1950s because of their behavior characteristics, size, and other physical traits, basically, everything that makes them a great companion to humans. Nearly 60,000 dogs are used for research in the United States each year, and the majority of them are beagles.

Envigo was the second largest producer of dogs for medical research and bred nearly 25 percent of beagles used in medical and drug research in the United States. Envigo is the same testing facility that prompted the Virginia General Assembly to pass several bills to protect animal welfare in breeding facilities after shameful conditions were exposed at the Cumberland beagle breeder last year.

Source: PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)/Youtube

After a lawsuit, Envigo agreed to release 4,000 beagles and shut down operations. The federal government and company agreed to give the dogs to the Humane Society of the United States to find them all new loving homes. The beagles are now being moved to shelters and groups like the Beagle Freedom Project, where they are being placed in foster homes before finding their forever homes.

Just before the Duke and Duchess left with Mamma Mia, Keith said that Harry paused and asked her, “‘Well, we can’t leave yet because there’s something in that back house she needs. Does she have a favorite toy or something?'” Keith said.

They took Mia to a box of toys and Mia grabbed a fox troy that she played with during her trip to Maryland after leaving Envigo for the first and last time.

“OK, now we can go home,” Harry said.

Breeding animals is never ok, and they should never be used for testing. Most dogs bred for research in the United States are beagles. It is an extremely cruel practice, and these poor animals are bred and spend their short lives in pain and suffer from the countless heinous experiments they are subject to. We need to end animal testing immediately!

Sign this petition to end testing on beagles!

Related Content:

• Over 400 Beagles Won’t Be Euthanized For Research at Cruel Breeding Facility Because They Were Rescued!
• Virginia General Assembly Passes Bills For Animal Welfare After Disturbing Reports From Dog Breeding Facility
• White Coat Waste to Sue NIH Over Foreign Animal Experiments
• 360 Beagle Puppies Bred for Experiments Found Dead at Breeding Mill
• Rescue Throws First Birthday Party for Rescued Research Beagles

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