The reason for having the birds on the show was to highlight the issue of people being conned when buying expensive pets like these, and the talk about how you should go about finding a healthy and well-looked after bird. As usual on the show, the animals took centre stage and did their best to dominate proceedings, but I managed to get a few tips across, such as talking to The Parrot Society of Great Britain for advice, and always going for a UK bred, hand reared bird that you’ve seen at the breeder’s home.

It was great fun, and hopefully we helped educate people both about some of the scams that are out there, and also about looking after these wonderful birds as well. The only downside was the holes that the parrots nibbled in my best shirt…

If you missed the show and you’re reading this in the next 7 days, you can watch again on the i-player at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rkfxv/The_One_Show_16_03_2010/

After planning the script for my pieces to camera, we headed out to find some dog owners to interview in a local park. However, as soon as we got the camera out and started talking to people we found ourselves in trouble – a burly policeman asked us what we were doing and before we knew what had happened our researcher had been cautioned for trespass and the council were demanding an extortionate fee to allow us to film in the park! This seemed utterly ridiculous as we were filming a public-interest film for the BBC rather than a commercial, but the police and council authorities were adamant that we needed the correct permits – and that meant paying the fees. In the end we sorted things out (and our researcher was allowed to go!) and got on with the filming, but the bureaucracy had cost us precious time and we were rushed around the park chasing down unsuspecting dog owners until we had enough interviews to make the film.

After recording my pieces, we raced back to the One Show offices and the director started to edit the film while I started to prepare for my appearance on the live show. By now it was after 5pm and we had just under 2 hours to finish the film and be ready for transmission! In the end, as you may well have seen, it all went well and the film looked good – but it certainly was a stressful day to say the least!

As for the subject of the film, as I said on the show after the film, I welcome any new legislation that helps control dangerous dogs – provided it doesn’t overly restrict normal everyday dog owners. I think compulsory microchips and insurance can only be a good thing, but I doubt whether it will really solve the problem. And on the subject of banned breeds, I really do feel that there’s no place for fighting breeds such as the Pit Bull in our society – there are plenty of other much better adjusted breeds out there, including the Staffordshire Bull Terrier which I think is a cracking breed.

Let me know if you have any comments on what you saw…

And you can watch again at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rd3gh/The_One_Show_09_03_2010/

As you may well have seen, I was on The One Show last week presenting a film about the problem of puppy farms.

This is one of the most underhand ways in which puppies from puppy farms are sold – using emotional blackmail to take advantage of decent people’s shock when confronted with a puppy that is obviously suffering or being kept in poor conditions. Not giving in to this kind of planned emotional blackmail is one way of fighting back against the puppy farmers, but there are also some other key tips to remember when looking for a new puppy:

• • Always see a puppy with its mother in the place where it was bred. If the breeder can’t show you the mother, be suspicious. Ideally see the father too.
  • Check vaccination details carefully. Vaccination cards are easy to fake – if the vet’s contact details are not visible or have an address from outside of the UK, the vaccination card may be a fake.
  • Bear in mind that pedigree certificates are never a guarantee for the condition of your puppy and may not even mean you are being sold a pure-bred puppy.
  • Never buy a puppy just because you feel sorry for it.
  • The cost of care, vet bills and pet insurance could total more than £10,000 over a dog’s life!
  • A dog needs at least 1-2hrs of exercise and mental stimulation everyday. Do you have the time?
  • Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 a pet owner has a legal duty to ensure the welfare of his animal(s).

If you missed the film – and also the cute Staffie puppies on the show afterwards – can can still catch it on the i-player this week at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00r5zzl/The_One_Show_04_03_2010/

Although it wasn’t perhaps the most useful and serious feature I’ve ever presented on TV, it was one of the most enjoyable, and Paul Merton was really great – and very nice of camera as well.