Animal Precinct
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| Animal Precinct | |
|---|---|
 Black and white version of series logo |
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| Genre | Reality Documentary |
| Directed by | Paul Berriff Rebbecca Colins Jamie Matson Ben Rowland |
| Narrated by | Michael Madsen (2001-2005)
Holt McCallany (2005-Present) |
| Composer(s) | Ernie Wood Robin Forrest |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 115 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Andrea Cornes Alexandra J. Bennett Sarah Tobin |
| Producer(s) | Jason Benjamin Kevin Hefner Vanessa Frances Richard Bonser Paul Fitzgerald (II) |
| Associate producer(s) |
Kate Jones Louisa Griffith-Jones |
| Location(s) | New York |
| Cinematography | Paul Berriff Bala Bailey Richard Graveling Jamie Matson Ben Rowland Jason Shepherd |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Animal Planet |
| Original run | June 26, 2001 – Present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Animal Cops Detroit Animal Cops Houston Miami Animal Police Animal Cops San Francisco Animal Planet Heroes: Phoenix |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Animal Precinct is a reality television series that premiered on Animal Planet on June 26, 2001. Set in New York City, the series follows the animal cruelty agents of the ASPCA's Humane Law Enforcement department as they work as advocates for the five million pets and other animals in New York City, sometimes removing them from dangerous situations and pursuing arrests of those who have been cruel to animals.
The show is filmed locally by crews from Anglia Television, edited in the UK and shown on Discovery Channel networks worldwide.
Contents |
[edit] Format
When the series debuted in 2001, episodes were 30 minutes in length. This was later extended to a full hour, and has remained there for all subsequent seasons. The pilot episode was quite different from subsequent episodes, as it focused primarily on Special Investigator Annemarie Lucas and included her discussing various parts of her job, such as how she felt about carrying a gun.
[edit] Seasons
| Season | # Episodes | Premiered | Ended |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | June 26, 2001 | January 7, 2002 |
| 2 | 17 | December 23, 2002 | February 10, 2003 |
| 3 | 15 | August 4, 2003 | April 12, 2004 |
| 4 | 10 | September 20, 2004 | December 16, 2005 |
| 5 | 17 | April 15, 2006 | September 29, 2006 |
| 6 | 16 | April 16, 2007 | November 02, 2007 |
| 7 | 9 | January 14, 2008 | Present |
[edit] Specials
[edit] "Animal Precinct at Ground Zero"
On October 12, 2001, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, Animal Planet aired a one-hour special focused on the work to rescue the many animals that were affected by the fall of the World Trade Center towers on September 11.[1]
[edit] Cast
The ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) officers can be classified as Special Agents or Special Investigators.[citation needed] Many HLE officers are identified by name on-camera; however, some are not, instead spoken of only by initial (most notably “Special Agent M” and “Special Agent Q”) with their faces blurred when on-camera as a way to protect their identities so that they can do undercover work for the ASPCA.
During the first three seasons, the HLE team had ten investigators. At the start of the fourth season, the team had been expanded to fifteen investigators. In season six, the team expanded again, and now (May 2008?) has twenty investigators.
- Kristi Adams
- John De La Torre
- Diane DiGiacomo
- Adam Gankiewicz
- Bob Clark
- Mike Geller
- Paul Lai
- Annemarie Lucas
- Mark MacDonald
- Joe Pentangelo
- Richard Raheb
- Peter Rivas
- Paul Romano
- Henry Ruiz (Special Agent H)
- Richard Ryan
- Tina Salaks
- Joann Sandano
- Timothy Stack
- Michael Tietje (retired in 2006)[citation needed]
[edit] Special Agent H
Special Agent Henry Ruiz was known as “Special Agent H” during the show’s early seasons but revealed his true identity in the episode aired on July 18, 2005 after he ceased performing undercover work. Ruiz’s “unmasking” was the subject of a series of special episodes of Animal Precinct, in which footage of Ruiz’s past rescues was shown for the first time without the facial blurring, as well as footage from his last major undercover operation for the ASPCA (reconnaissance and surveillance of an area holding roosters bred for cock fighting) with Ruiz demonstrating and explaining his undercover techniques on-camera. However, completed episodes filmed while Ruiz was still "Special Agent H" still have his face blurred whenever he appears on-screen.
[edit] Reception
The success of Animal Precint lead Animal Planet to create an "umbrella rotation" of similar shows known that are collectively as "Animal Planet Heroes." Though the shows have similar formats, each has their own unique elements due to the differences in the ways the individual cities deal with animal care and cruelty cases. There have currently been six similar shows based on the Animal Precint concept.
- Animal Cops Detroit (Detroit, Michigan)
- Animal Cops Houston (Houston, Texas)
- Miami Animal Police (Miami, Florida)
- Animal Cops San Francisco (San Francisco, California)
- Animal Planet Heroes: Phoenix (Phoenix, Arizona)
- Animal Cops South Africa (Cape of Good Hope, South Africa)
In 2002, the series won the Genesis Award for the "Best Reality Programming" category.
[edit] References
- General
- Animal Precinct: All Episodes. AOL Television. Retrieved on 2008-01-29.</ref>
- Specific
- ^ "Animal Precinct at Ground Zero" TV Show To Spotlight ASPCA During WTC Crisis. Charity Wire (2001-09-01). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
