Outspoken animal rights activists have targeted the Prince and Princess of Wales, branding them ‘staggeringly out of touch’ for breeding their cocker spaniels during a so-called ‘animal homelessness crisis’.
Firebrand campaigners from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) said nobody should be ‘churning out a litter’ when animal shelters were full of dogs needing homes.
Prince William was pictured with his dog Orla and three of her puppies in a photo taken by Kate and released by Kensington Palace on Saturday for his 43rd birthday.
The picture was accompanied by the caption: ‘Happy birthday! Love C, G, C, L, Orla and the puppies!’. The initials referred to Kate, who is more formally known as Catherine, and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
But Elisa Allen, vice president of programmes for US organisation Peta, said: ‘The Prince and Princess of Wales should know that shelters here and worldwide are overflowing with puppies desperate for a second chance at a loving home.’
She told MailOnline that ‘churning out a litter in the midst of this animal homelessness crisis is staggeringly out of touch’.
Ms Allen – who once sent Meghan Markle a vegan leather handbag as a birthday gift in 2018 – added: ‘If William is going to lead, he might well take a lesson from King Charles and Queen Camilla, who have chosen to adopt from a shelter rather than contribute to the problem.’
Peta is known for being outspoken and has attracted criticism from those who claim it operates as a ‘political protest group’ despite having charitable status – but the organisation insists its aim ‘is, and always has been, to reduce animal suffering’.
Prince William was pictured with his dog Orla and three of her puppies in a photo taken by his wife Kate and released by Kensington Palace on Saturday for his 43rd birthday
Prince William and Kate with their dog Orla as they attend a polo event in Windsor in July 2022
In the photo, one of the chocolate cocker spaniel puppies is being stroked by William while their mother Orla is behind him.
The Prince and Princess have had Orla since 2020, after their first dog together Lupo, also a cocker spaniel – which they were given as a wedding present from Kate’s brother James Middleton – died unexpectedly.
James is an experience breeder and has owned three generations of cocker spaniels.
Orla gave birth to four puppies last month and the photograph was taken in Windsor on a sunny day earlier in June.
The royal couple are understood to be planning to keep one of the new puppies, according to the Telegraph.
In February, Camilla told how she had adopted a rescue puppy after she was left heartbroken by the death of her beloved dog Beth.
The Queen revealed the addition to her canine family called Moley – because, in her words, the dog ‘looks just like a mole’ – when she met a fellow dog lover at an event in Canterbury, Kent.
Buckingham Palace posted the news of the death of Beth on social media last November alongside a montage of images of the royal pet, with the message describing the joy the animal brought to Camilla.
Beth, a Jack Russell terrier, was adopted by Camilla from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2011, just like her other rescue dog Bluebell, the following year.
Orla was also in a portrait released to mark Princess Charlotte’s seventh birthday in May 2022
The Prince and Princess of Wales pictured with their previous dog Lupo, who died in 2020, This photo was released in August 2023, soon after the birth of their son Prince George that July
Moley is a girl born on Boxing Day and is also from Battersea, the animal rescue centre in South London which Camilla supports as patron.
The late Queen Elizabeth II owned more than 30 corgis, many of them direct descendants of her first one Susan, who was so loved she accompanied the then Princess Elizabeth on her honeymoon.
She was also kept dorgis – a cross between a corgi and a dachshund.
Charles also owned Jack Russells, including his beloved Tigga, who lived until the age of 18 and grew up with princes William and Harry.
A willow and bronze wire sculpture of Tigga stands in tribute to the cherished pet in the gardens of Charles’s Gloucestershire home Highgrove.
Tigga’s daughter Pooh went missing on the Balmoral estate in 1994 after running off into the trees, but was never found again.
Back in January, the Duchess of Sussex said she was ‘devastated’ after the death of her rescue beagle Guy, who she adopted from a rescue centre in Canada.
Meghan and her husband Prince Harry still have two other dogs – another rescue beagle called Mia and a black Labrador called Pula.
MailOnline has contacted Kensington Palace for comment.