Guy the beagle’s unlikely journey started from a US kill shelter to a Canadian adoption group – and now he’s part of the royal family

In just a few days he went from the kill list at an animal shelter to featuring in Instagram posts that racked up thousands of views.

This weekend, as Meghan Markle marries Prince Harry, Guy the beagle will launch into another chapter of his rather charmed life, as he officially becomes part of the royal family.

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“It’s a total fairytale,” said Alison Preiss of Pet Valu, the Ontario pet store where the rescue dog was adopted by Markle in 2015.

“Here is this dog that was in a shelter, nobody wanted him, and through this wonderful adoption he’s now living in a palace, running around with the royal family.”

Guy’s unlikely journey began after a shelter in the US sent an email to Dolores Doherty, who runs an Ontario-based organisation, A Dog’s Dream Rescue, which saves beagles slated to be put down in the US and brings them to Canada to be adopted.

This time, a shelter in Kentucky was asking if she would be interested in a 17lb beagle that had been found in the woods. After he had spent days at the shelter, nobody had come forward to adopt him, and the dog was on the euthanasia list. “I always say yes,” said Doherty. “I can’t say no. I’m a sucker.”

A network of volunteers helped transport the dog more than 500 miles to the Canadian border, each of them driving him for one hour before handing him over to the next waiting car.

He hadn’t even been in Canada for a full day when Doherty brought him to an adoption event on the outskirts of Toronto. “He was just sitting there with those big beagle sad eyes, looking so depressed. He was irresistible,” said Doherty.

Dozens of people had turned up to meet the 20 or so dogs up for adoption, including Markle, who at the time was living in Toronto while her TV series Suits was being filmed.

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Doherty – who had never heard of Suits – had no inkling of Markle’s celebrity status.

The first hint of Markle’s fame came after Doherty said she would have to carry out a home visit to confirm some of the details listed in her application, such as the fenced-in backyard. Markle said it wouldn’t be a problem – but asked her to make an appointment for security reasons.

Doherty never made it to Markle’s house. Instead, she followed Guy’s new life on Instagram, delighting in snaps of the beagle as he strolled the streets of Toronto next to Markle or curled up beside her at home, napping.

After news broke of Markle’s engagement to Prince Harry, Doherty revelled in the idea that one of her dogs would now be joining the royal family. “It’s just beyond my wildest imagination,” she said. “How is that for a rags to riches story from a good old Kentucky beagle?”

In November, Prince Harry’s communication secretary confirmed that Guy had moved to the UK and was living with Markle. Her other dog, Bogart, is believed to be too old to make the journey across the Atlantic and is staying with Markle’s close friends.

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While Guy now ranks as the most famous of her rescue dogs, he’s far from the only one with a remarkable story, Doherty said.

Of the 1,600 or so dogs her organisation has rescued in the past seven years, some have gone on to become cancer detection dogs while a few support people who have depression or panic attacks. Others have found work as detection dogs along the Canada-US border.

“The dogs that have come up here have really impacted a lot of lives,” she said. “So there’s a lot of happy endings, but his certainly is the most outstanding.”