Animals
O'Grady's use of animals has often been the target of criticism, citing it cruel to expose his pet dogs (in particular Buster) to harsh studio lighting for up to 55 minutes per day. However, his dogs only usually appear in the first part of the show for around 7–8 minutes.
The show regularly features animals other than O'Grady's pet dogs, such as a homeless animal feature, where animal rescue shelters bring in homeless pets in order to find them homes.
O'Grady currently has three pet dogs; Olga, who is a black Cairn Terrier and was adopted from the homeless animals feature on the show. Louie (short for Lucifer), and Bullseye who was also recently adopted from the show.
Buster, who had worked beside O'Grady for 15 years, featured in his last ever show on 11 November 2009, and officially retired after 15 years of working with Paul. Buster was put to sleep on 19 November 2009, after suffering from cancer. This was announced on 23 November 2009 by O'Grady on the show. O'Grady decided that putting him to sleep was the kindest approach "It was the kindest thing to do. Keeping him would be selfish."
Buster was popular on the show, and a limited edition Nodding Buster toy was produced and given out as a consolation prize, and thereafter as a prize from the tombola draw. In November 2008, Paul revealed that a Nodding Olga toy was to be produced. O'Grady alluded that Bullseye would be taking over from Buster once fully trained.
In total, O'Grady has 28 pets, which he mentioned on his show when responding to a viewer's question.
Read more about this topic: The Paul O'Grady Show
Famous quotes containing the word animals:
“We know what the animals do, what are the needs of the beaver, the bear, the salmon, and other creatures, because long ago men married them and acquired this knowledge from their animal wives. Today the priests say we lie, but we know better.”
—native American belief, quoted by D. Jenness in “The Carrier Indians of the Bulkley River,” Bulletin no. 133, Bureau of American Ethnology (1943)
“Shall we never have done with that cliché, so stupid that it could only be human, about the sympathy of animals for man when he is unhappy? Animals love happiness almost as much as we do. A fit of crying disturbs them, they’ll sometimes imitate sobbing, and for a moment they’ll reflect our sadness. But they flee unhappiness as they flee fever, and I believe that in the long run they are capable of boycotting it.”
—Colette [Sidonie Gabrielle Colette] (1873–1954)
“You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religion.... Dogs do not ritually urinate in the hope of persuading heaven to do the same and send down rain. Asses do not bray a liturgy to cloudless skies. Nor do cats attempt, by abstinence from cat’s meat, to wheedle the feline spirits into benevolence. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, quite intelligent enough.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)