Canines have the X-Factor after Simon Cowell donates £190,000 to dog charity

Simon Cowell is probably most recognised for his judging roles on Britain's Got Talent and the X Factor. He has turned hundreds of wannabe singers and entertainers into international stars overnight.

But he's also become well-known for his love of pups.

The TV and music mogul is often photographed with this three beloved pooches, Yorkshire Terriers Squiddly, Diddly and Freddy.

But his love of dogs doesn't just stop with his own pups. The big-hearted dog lover recently donated an incredible £190,000 of his own cash to a canine charity.

Fundraising auction

Each year, Simon holds a fundraising event at the Royal Westmoreland in Barbados. This year, there were lots of exclusive big-ticket items for people to bid on in the auction during the evening.

The auction took bids of $1500 for tickets to see the Script perform, while guests offered $1000 for cooking lessons from a Masterchef winner. There was even a $5000 bid for VIP tickets to attend ITV's Summertime Ball.

Huge donation

But despite the large sums raised during the evening, Simon decided to step in to save the dog charity after the auction didn't raise enough cash on the night. His generous donation meant that the charity came away from the event with a whopping £190,000 it would have otherwise missed out on.

It's not the first time that Simon has donated large sums to help dogs in need. When Manchester Dogs' Home was destroyed in a fire, Simon handed over his own money to help with the rebuild. He's also spoken out against the canine meat trade and dog cruelty in China.

Cloning canines

Money is no object when it comes to Simon's love of dogs.

He has previously revealed plans to spend £180,000 on getting his own beloved pooches cloned. To ensure his three pups live on, even after their death, he plans to use a South Korean company to clone their DNA.

“I am 100% cloning the dogs, all of them. We've thoroughly looked into it; got all the details and I can prove to you I’m going to clone them. There is documentation. I am doing it because I cannot bear the thought of them not being around,” he told The Sun On Sunday.

“I might actually do it sooner rather than later, which will mean we have six dogs running around. It doesn’t hurt them. It's like a swab, a DNA thing.”

The process will cost Simon around £60,000 per dog and involves a skin biopsy on the dog's stomach. The nucleus from harvested eggs will then be removed and insert a skin cell from the dog to be cloned.