On June 21, Prince William celebrated his 43rd birthday. Kensington Palace shared a previously unseen image from this event. In the photograph, Prince William appears with his dog Orla and her puppies, which sparked tenderness among Instagram users.
However, the photo wasn't well received by Peta. This animal rights group criticized the Prince and Princess of Wales for not promoting animal adoption. Peta reproaches that their cocker spaniel, Orla, had a litter.
Peta criticizes Prince William for not promoting adoption
Elisa Allen, Peta's vice president, criticized in The Telegraph that having a litter during a shelter crisis is inappropriate. In her statement, she proposed that William follow the example of King Charles III and Camilla, who adopted their dog from a shelter. According to Allen, this action would help mitigate the growing number of homeless animals in the United Kingdom.
Orla, the cocker spaniel of the Prince and Princess, joined the royal family in 2020. She arrived after the death of Lupo, the dog that James Middleton had given Kate as a wedding gift. It wasn't until two years later that the royal family shared the first official image of Orla, on Princess Charlotte's seventh birthday.
The image published on William's birthday, in which he appears with Orla's puppies, has caused controversy. The situation has sparked a debate about breeding dogs versus adoption. In the United Kingdom, animal adoption has become a sensitive topic in recent years.
Royal controversy: William's family in the eye of the animal rights storm
According to the Daily Mail, the royal family could keep one of Orla's puppies. This possibility has caused a great stir, especially among animal rights activists. This scandal led MP Andrew Rosindell and several activists to call for Peta's charitable status to be revoked.
Rosindell and other critics consider that Peta acts more like an "extremist political protest group" than a charitable organization. In addition, they claim that the organization doesn't show evidence of their charitable activities. This incident has put the royal family in the eye of the animal rights storm, with divided opinions about their treatment of animals.