A petition to erect a statue of Paul O'Grady has been signed more than 115,000 times following his passing.
A petition to erect a statue of Paul O'Grady has been signed more than 115,000 times following his passing
The late TV star passed away last week aged 67, and fans of the 'For the Love of Dogs' presenter are keen to see a permanent reminder of Paul put up in his hometown of Birkenhead, Merseyside.
Kieran Gabriel, who started the change.org petition, wrote on the site: "Paul O'Grady passed away suddenly on March 28th and it only feels right to honour the life of such a great human being by immortalising him in statue form, in his hometown of Birkenhead.
"Paul has left a huge legacy with his trailblazing work as a drag artist, social and political causes, LGBT rights and of course, his love of animals.
"This is a petition to the Wirral Council, who must surely take stock of the huge outpouring of love in the wake of Paul's passing. Liverpool has Cilla, Birkenhead deserves Paul."
Wirral Council have confirmed they are "working on" honouring Paul as part of their Borough of Culture events next year.
A spokesperson for the council said in a statement to the Liverpool ECHO newspaper: "It has been wonderful to see such an outpouring of love and warmth for Paul O'Grady following the sad news of his death, along with the many donations directed to Battersea Cats and Dogs Home, a charity we all know from his television work was close to his heart.
"At the moment here in Wirral we are working on honouring Paul’s life, career and the causes he championed, including through a fitting celebration as part of our Borough of Culture events next year."
This comes after more than £233,000 was donated to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in memory of Paul.
He was an ambassador for the animal rescue service, and shot 11 series of his ITV show 'For the Love of Dogs' there.
At the time of writing, £233,635 has been pledged to the Paul O'Grady Tribute Fund.
A message on the page reads: "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."
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