Comedian and television presenter Paul O'Grady has lept to the defence of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home after a whistleblower alleged that hundreds of healthy dogs were being put down because they are anxious.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday on January 3, the whistleblower claimed that nearly a third of dogs brought in were put down, and that former owners were left shocked when learning the fate of family pets given up for rehoming.

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The whistleblower alleged that strays, who were kept for seven days, were more likely to survive than pets in need of a new family.

Figures show that 1,309 dogs, a third of those brought into the three centres run by the charity, were put down from January to November 2015, up three per cent on the same period in the year before.

Mr O'Grady, who presents For the Love of Dogs, filmed at the home, said he does not think there is a problem.

He spends two days a week in the home, and said he has seen dogs "near death" brought back to life, and that he would not work there if the claims were true.

In response to the claims, a spokesman for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home admitted that more dogs had been put down in 2015.

He said: "On a daily basis our staff deal with some of the most frightened, stressed and aggressive dogs in what is, for these new arrivals, a very alien environment.

"Inevitably this means there are some dogs coming in to Battersea that it is too late to help, as they have been trained to be aggressive or they have a history of severe behavioural problems that suggest they may not be able to be safely rehomed.

"We have to make the very difficult decision to put some dogs to sleep.

"In 2015 we have had to make those decisions more frequently. We have been very concerned to see increases in the number of dogs arriving with those aggressive behaviours; there have been many more dogs with severe and terminal health conditions; and there has also been an increase in the number of banned breeds arriving - the UK law demands that we must put such banned breeds to sleep, regardless of how friendly a temperament they may have."

According to the home, some dogs have been so affected by stress that they self mutilate in their kennels, or turn on their handlers.

Those who have come from family homes, to living in a kennel surrounded by strangers, are often most affected.

The spokesman said: "We have focussed our very considerable efforts on those stressed dogs over the past six months and have been introducing multiple new approaches to try and find new ways to help them cope better with life in kennels.

"In 2015 we spent £13.6m on new facilities for our animals. There is no time limit on how long we care for a dog (or cat) and in September we opened our new Mary Tealby Kennels and paddocks for the new dogs experiencing their first days at Battersea."

This year, the home will bring in more volunteers to spend time with the dogs, and the new veterinary hospital will open.

An astroturf exercise paddock and garden facilities are also on their way to the London centre this year.