Paul O’Grady was a devoted animal lover who dedicated much of his life to rescuing and rehoming dogs.
Paul O’Grady should have turned 68 years old today. The TV presenter was renowned for his passion for animals and devoted a significant portion of his life to rescuing and rehoming dogs in need before extending his care to other creatures, including pigs and alpacas.
The presenter had five rescue dogs – Nancy, Arfur, Conchita, Eddie and Sausage – when he suddenly died in March 2023. Beyond featuring his pets on The Paul O’Grady Show and hosting ITV’s For the Love of Dogs, he served as an ambassador for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and a patron for Orangutan Appeal UK and Wildlife SOS. He and his husband Andre Portasio shared their residence with the dogs, chickens, pigs, sheep, goats and alpacas – though Paul tragically lost one of his beloved pet pigs, Tom Tom, shortly before his passing.
The star had his own farm (Image: Getty)
Sharing how many animals Paul had, his close friend Malcolm Prince told Express.co.uk last year: “It’s weird to think he’s not still in that house, surrounded by those animals.
“When I used to go, we would go for a walk around the duck pond and then we would go and see the chickens and he had a couple of owls too. Then if you carried on walking down a bit, there were the pigs and then another little house that he had built for the alpacas. He started with three of those and then they had babies.
“I used to love the fact that he named them all. And, with the dogs in particular, he talked to them all, and sometimes they talked back! He was a real life Doctor Dolittle.”
He continued: “On the last day with Paul, we were actually talking about death because some of his pigs had started to die. It sounds horrible, but they had to be put to sleep because they were unwell.
“But, by God, he cared about those animals. He would get up at five in the morning to go and feed them and care for them even though he really hated getting up early!
“The pigs were relocated to a sanctuary and they are very happy. Joan [Paul’s friend] is still in contact with the lady who looks after them.
“And as for the rest of the animals, most of them have been relocated. It’s because the house is up for sale and no one wants to buy a house with a load of animals living there.”
