1 year ago
After just over a week of being live, the tribute fund has already raised over £250k in memory of the late, great Paul O’Grady.
Paul O’Grady died peacefully in his sleep on 28th March 2023, his sudden passing has left his fans and supporters heartbroken. Paul was known for many things; a public personality, comedian, author, drag queen, actor… and, of course, his series ‘For the Love of Dogs’, of which the final and 11th season will be showing tonight, 13th April, at 8.30pm.
If you’re not familiar, For the Love of Dogs is the BBC show that came as the result of Paul’s deep love for animals and, specifically, dogs. The series is filmed at Battersea Cats and Dogs Home, and in the show we see the presenter meet all shades of the characters at the home, the behind the scenes of their care and journey during their time in Battersea. Paul was crucial in helping to convince the public to adopt the furry residents too. The series was a huge hit and won several awards, most likely because of the genuine affection that Paul showed for the dogs- over the years working on the show he ended up adopting 6 dogs. He volunteered at the home for 6 months and at the end of series 1 was asked to be an ambassador for the charity which, of course, he gladly accepted.
Since his death, Battersea has set up a tribute fund in memory of Paul O’Grady to continue the invaluable work he did for the charity. Here’s the statement from the cats and dogs home:
“Battersea joins the nation in mourning the loss of Paul O’Grady – an entertainment legend and much-loved Ambassador to our charity. We’d like to extend our deepest sympathies to Paul’s family and friends. To millions Paul O’Grady is the popular TV and radio presenter and comedian who lit up their screens with his razor-sharp humour and perpetual generosity and warmth. Battersea will forever remember Paul as a devoted animal lover with the biggest heart, who fell in love with every dog he met at our centres. Paul will always be associated with Battersea, and we are truly saddened to have lost such a true friend and huge part of our charity.
Paul loved Battersea so much and we cannot thank him enough for everything he did for our charity and for rescue animals worldwide. We will forever be indebted to him for his endless generosity and support.“
