Meghan Markle Is Helping U.K. Animal Welfare Patronage Amid Pandemic

Giving back! Meghan Markle has been putting her time to good use amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The former Duchess of Sussex, 38, has been secretly helping to fund London-based charity Mayhew as it struggles to stay afloat during the global crisis, Newsweek reported on Thursday, May 28. The organization is an animal welfare charity that works to benefit the mental health of vulnerable individuals through pets.

Meghan Markle Helping UK Animal Welfare Patronage Amid Pandemic
Meghan Markle pets a dog during a visit to the Mayhew animal welfare charity on January 16, 2019 in London, England. Shutterstock

Markle became a patron to Mayhew in January 2019 while serving as a member of the British royal family. A statement on Mayhew’s website declared that Markle is a good match for Mayhew because she “has long understood the connection between animals and community welfare and has supported various animal rescue centres in Los Angeles.”

The website continues, “We are thrilled that the Duchess shares our commitment to improving the lives of animals and people at home and internationally, and [we] are extremely excited to make a real difference to dogs, cats and communities together.”

In the weeks after Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, announced their royal step down in January, the Suits alum paid a visit to Mayhew’s London center. The Sussex Royal Instagram page revealed that Markle “popped in to see the amazing people at Mayhew [and] to hear about the incredible progress made throughout the festive period.”

Markle’s appreciation for animals has been well-documented. While living in Toronto before becoming a royal, she was a dog mom to two rescue pets. Currently, the former Tig blogger and Harry, 35, share two dogs: a black Labrador named Oz and a rescue Beagle named Guy.

Meghan Markle Helping UK Animal Welfare Patronage Amid Pandemic
Meghan Markle pets a dog at a Dubbo community BBQ on October 17, 2018 in Victoria Park, Australia. Tim Rooke/Shutterstock

For Markle’s first post-royals project, she teamed up with Disneynature to narrate Elephants. The film was released to the Disney+ streaming service on April 3 as a part of Earth Month.

“I’ve been very lucky to be able to have hands-on experience with elephants in their natural habitat,” she said in a Good Morning America interview last month. “When you spend time connecting to them and the other wildlife, you really understand we have a role to play in their preservation and their safety.”

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source: usmagazine.com