Paul O’Grady is back at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, meeting the latest residents that need treatment, training and ultimately new homes.
In this new eleven part series, Paul visits homes at Brands Hatch in Kent and Old Windsor in Berkshire as well as the iconic Battersea site, meeting the happy-go-lucky dogs as well as the dogs that are lucky to be alive.
The last two series of the show have been a real success. What do you think the secret is?
“I think it’s because it’s a feel good show. It’s like Long Lost Family, you might start off with a terribly sad story but then it finishes with a happy ending. I’ve learnt now from talking to the viewers and what they say to me, they like my relationship with the dogs and the animals. They like the fact that I’m very hands on. I don’t sit there and say this is a poodle, I’m lying on the floor with the poodle probably on top of me. But it’s a feel good thing, it makes you laugh, it makes you cry. It’s that sort of thing we all like.”
In this series as well as the Battersea South London site, you travel to sites in Brands Hatch and Old Windsor. How did that make things different?
“Well I’m very attached to Battersea South London so it’s a bit alien territory for me going to other sites. But the other sites are beautiful; the one in Windsor is lovely as is the one in Brands Hatch. For the dogs they’ve got all these fields and parks to roam. The dogs are slightly posher in Windsor, a posher breed of dog and in Brands Hatch as well. I get all the sarf London dogs down in Battersea.”
ABOVE: Paul with Bruno who was just 11 weeks old when he came into Battersea. Unfortunately he didn't get along with the owner's other dog and so she had had to make the heart-breaking decision to hand him over to Battersea so they could find him a new home.
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What dogs really stood out for you across the series?
“My favourites were Lola the bull dog, she had an eye problem, I loved her. Pepi the little old dog, he was a twelve-year-old Shih Tzu and had lots of health problems, also Freddie the dog who was rehomed to Denmark. I took him to the boat so he could sail to Denmark. I love them all really when I think about!”
In the second programme we meet an emaciated Lurcher called Soldier, how did you feel when you met him?
“Oh god love him, I mean it was heartbreaking his story. He was one that you go home and worry about, it doesn’t finish when you get in the car and go home. It made me angry, very angry, what people could do this?
“Luckily they have great ability to recover and mentally recover as well and to forget about the past and trust humans again. It’s sad really you think they’d keep away after that, you think they’d learn and think, ‘I’m not going near those two-legged things again’. But they don’t and I think we have a responsibility really to care for animals that’s why we are here, not to abuse them.”
Do you get more used to seeing these neglected dogs?
“No not all. Actually this series I found it harder with some of them. And it’s the older ones whose owners have died, like Pepi, they kill me, they just kill me. They have done nothing and don’t know what’s happening. It’s heart breaking, really heartbreaking and that’s what upsets me the most.”
ABOVE: Paul O'Grady visits Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in For The Love Of Dogs At Christmas to help give the animals residing there a fabulous festive season. As well as the iconic Battersea London site, Paul also brings some Christmas spirit to dogs from the Old Windsor and Brands Hatch sites.
In the series you take a dog called Tyler and two puppies to meet the children at St George’s Hospital. How did the children react to your visit?
“The kids loved it, they really loved it and they were delighted. I felt like Mary Poppins that day when I sailed in, they all brightened up. They were all a bit shy at first, until you sit down and start yacking to them and then they’re all full of life.”
You talk about adopting dogs each series but in this one you actually did take a dog home called Tulip don’t you?
“She was a puppy, a few months old called Tulip. She was gorgeous, I mean really gorgeous. I fell for her hook, line and sinker as soon as I saw her. Tulip was such a good dog, she was good in the car, she was good with kids, she was good in the house but unfortunately it wasn’t plain sailing...”
What has been your personal highlight during filming?
“I liked taking Freddie down to Harwich. He was such good company. He was gorgeous, he was huge, he was like a donkey. It made me realise I’d love a big dog like that, who is so friendly, and so affectionate and trusting. I’m dragging him round this boat and he was great. That woman in Denmark who rehomed him is a lucky woman, he was lovely old Freddie.”
In one programme you take a dog called Krystal off to Coronation Street to appear as an extra. What was that like?
“She was good as gold. In her scene Ken is preparing his car and caravan to go camping with Deirdre and he’s outside the Rovers fixing the engine. Krystal comes out of the Rovers with Ali, the dog handler, and walks over the road, it took one take, the dog was the star! I think it was my tutelage in the dressing room."
“She’s one of these breeds that people say ‘oh no’ but she’s a sweetheart she really is. You have to look below the surface really. She’s just brilliant but because of what she is people say no, they’ve got such a bad reputation.
“She gave the Barlows a run for their money, she upstaged the lot of them. That’s my girl, she’s a star!”
Paul O'Grady For The Love of Dogs Episode 5 continues tonight on ITV1 at 8:30PM
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