Pick of the day

PAUL O’GRADY FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS: INDIA

STV, 8.30pm HE’S not dubbed the dog whisperer for nothing. Animal-loving Paul O’Grady is not afraid to get his hands dirty while caring for sick pups and, in return, the mutts follow him around like he’s Doctor Dolittle.

The presenter, 62, even contracted a near-fatal virus while filming this latest series in India after flicking maggots out of rat bites on street dogs. You don’t get much more dedicated (or foolish?) than that.

After a run of his hit series filmed from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, Paul now heads east to meet the heroes who care for Delhi’s 400,000 street dogs.

Rolling up his sleeves as usual, Paul helps the team at Friendicoes dog shelter as around 50 sick and abandoned mutts arrive through the doors every day.

Despite the sometimes grisly injuries, Paul nurses these waifs and strays with compassion and good humour, providing an eye-opening and serious documentary that’s also thoroughly entertaining.

Watch out for scenes filmed from Lodhi Gardens, where Paul helps a fellow dog-lover Mala to feed the strays. There they discover a nervous dog who has just given birth to a litter of puppies in a nearby bush.

But the undergrowth is teeming with hungry rats and if they don’t get the pups out of the bush quickly, they’ll be killed.

Back at the shelter, Paul meets miniature golden retriever cross Golu, who was found tied to the bumper of a car and constantly chewing a wound on her paw.

Golu will need a new owner – and with just one look at those puppy dog eyes, Paul is desperate to whisk her back to Britain.