Paul O’grady: For the Love of Dogs – What Happened Next
Paul O’grady catches up with the rescued Battersea dog who featured in the first episode of the series eight years ago...
WED 22 July, 8pm ITV Factual
It’s eight years since Paul O’grady began broadcasting from batter sea Dogs & Cats Home, so in this latest series, he’s catching up with some of the animals he’s helped find families for. This includes Amy the bull terrier, who was adopted by Paula and Mark from Essex, plus a puggle
(crossbreed pug and beagle) called Bruce who’s provided vital support to an autistic boy.
For the past eight years, Paul O’grady: For the Love of Dogs has seen countless cute canines from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home find adoring new families. But Staffordshire bull terrier Amy, who was originally named Sparkle, holds a very special place in the show’s history.
Amy was the first dog to be featured in the debut episode back in 2012 when she was adopted by Paula and Mark Oliver from Clacton-on-sea, Essex, after being found abandoned and emaciated in a London park.
‘She was in a shocking state, just skin and bone. I don’t know what she’d been through,’ says Paula, who appears with Amy in ITV’S special catch-up series, which also follows puggle Bruce, now called Potato, who’s changed the lives of his adoptive family.
Stronger
‘The staff said Amy’s was probably the worst case they’d seen,’ adds Paula. ‘They didn’t know if she’d survive, but she got stronger every day.’
For Paula, meeting Amy at Battersea was love at first sight.
‘Amy was probably the last dog we saw there but her eyes had so much love in them,’ she says.
‘My husband just looked at her and said, “Do you want to come to the seaside?”’
Since living with the
Olivers, Amy has gone from strength to strength and celebrates her 10th
birthday in the new episode.
‘Amy’s never shown fear or aggression,’ says Paula. ‘I’m so
glad we were at Battersea on that day.’