Animal Precinct is an American documentaryrealitytelevision series that originally aired from June 26, 2001, to February 4, 2008, on Animal Planet. Set in New York City, the series follows the animal cruelty agents of the ASPCA's Humane Law Enforcement Division 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 accused of being cruel to animals.
When the series debuted in 2001, episodes were 30 minutes in length. This was later extended to a full hour, and 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.
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 2, 2007
7
9
January 14, 2008
February 4, 2008
Specials
"Animal Precinct at Ground Zero"
On October 12, 2001, 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]
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 as of May 2008, the HLE has twenty investigators, including a female undercover agent ("Special Agent L").
In 2007, Special Investigator Annemarie Lucas was promoted to Supervisory Special Investigator. As a result of the extra duties associated with her promotion, she does fewer street work cases, but still occasionally participates in investigations when other agents need her assistance.
Kristi Adams
John De La Torre
Diane DiGiacomo (died in the line of duty, see below)
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.
Diane DiGiacomo
In 2014, Special Investigator Diane DiGiacomo was diagnosed with cancer that was directly attributed to her exposure to toxins while working as a part of animal search and rescue operations after the September 11 attacks that were depicted in the Animal Precinct at Ground Zero special. DiGiacomo died on November 20, 2015, as a result of that cancer. Although DiGiacomo's death occurred over 14 years after the attack and almost 2 years after the January 2014 dissolution of the Humane Law Enforcement Division, the Officer Down Memorial Page considers her death to be in the line of duty. This makes DiGiacomo the only known line of duty death in the history of the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Division.[5]
Equipment
The agents of the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement have full police powers.[6] Their police powers stem from a law that was written in 1866 by ASPCA founder Henry Bergh. They are certified New York State peace officers and have statewide jurisdiction, though they only work in the confines of New York City's 5 boroughs (Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island).
The success of Animal Precinct led Animal Planet to create an "umbrella rotation" of similar shows known collectively as "Animal Planet Heroes". Though the shows have similar formats, each has its own unique elements due to the differences in the ways the individual cities deal with animal care and cruelty cases. There have currently been eight similar shows based on the Animal Precinct concept:
^Lane, Marion; Zawistowski, Stephen (2008). Heritage of Care: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Praeger Publishers. p. 113. ISBN9780275990213.
animal, precinct, american, documentary, reality, television, series, that, originally, aired, from, june, 2001, february, 2008, animal, planet, york, city, series, follows, animal, cruelty, agents, aspca, humane, enforcement, division, they, work, advocates, . Animal Precinct is an American documentary reality television series that originally aired from June 26 2001 to February 4 2008 on Animal Planet Set in New York City the series follows the animal cruelty agents of the ASPCA s Humane Law Enforcement Division 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 accused of being cruel to animals Animal PrecinctA black and white version of the title logo GenreRealityDocumentaryCrimeMysteryCreated byPaul BerriffDirected byPaul BerriffRebbecca ColinsJamie MatsonBen RowlandNarrated byMichael Madsen 2001 2005 Holt McCallany 2005 2008 ComposersErnie WoodRobin ForrestCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons7No of episodes115ProductionExecutive producersAndrea CornesAlexandra J BennettSarah TobinProducersJason BenjaminKevin HefnerVanessa Frances Sian Jones Richard BonserPaul Fitzgerald II Production locationNew York CityCinematographyPaul BerriffBala BaileyRichard GravelingJamie MatsonBen RowlandJason ShepherdCamera setupMultipleRunning time45 minutesProduction companyAnglia TelevisionDistributorDiscovery CommunicationsReleaseOriginal networkAnimal PlanetOriginal releaseJune 26 2001 2001 06 26 February 4 2008 2008 02 04 ChronologyRelatedAnimal CopsMiami Animal PoliceThe show was filmed locally by crews from Anglia Television edited in the UK and shown on Discovery Channel networks worldwide Contents 1 Format 1 1 Seasons 1 2 Specials 1 2 1 Animal Precinct at Ground Zero 2 Cast 2 1 Special Agent H 2 2 Diane DiGiacomo 3 Equipment 4 Reception 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksFormat EditWhen the series debuted in 2001 episodes were 30 minutes in length This was later extended to a full hour and 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 Seasons Edit Season Episodes Premiered Ended1 16 June 26 2001 January 7 20022 17 December 23 2002 February 10 20033 15 August 4 2003 April 12 20044 10 September 20 2004 December 16 20055 17 April 15 2006 September 29 20066 16 April 16 2007 November 2 20077 9 January 14 2008 February 4 2008Specials Edit Animal Precinct at Ground Zero Edit On October 12 2001 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 Cast EditThe 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 as of May 2008 the HLE has twenty investigators including a female undercover agent Special Agent L In 2007 Special Investigator Annemarie Lucas was promoted to Supervisory Special Investigator As a result of the extra duties associated with her promotion she does fewer street work cases but still occasionally participates in investigations when other agents need her assistance Kristi Adams John De La Torre Diane DiGiacomo died in the line of duty see below Adam Gankiewicz Bob Clark Mike Geller Paul Lai Annemarie Lucas 2 Mark MacDonald Joe Pentangelo Richard Raheb Peter Rivas Paul Romano Henry Ruiz formerly Special Agent H when he was undercover Richard Ryan Tina Salaks 3 Joann Sandano 4 Timothy Stack Michael Tietje retired in 2006 citation needed Special Agent H Edit 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 Diane DiGiacomo Edit In 2014 Special Investigator Diane DiGiacomo was diagnosed with cancer that was directly attributed to her exposure to toxins while working as a part of animal search and rescue operations after the September 11 attacks that were depicted in the Animal Precinct at Ground Zero special DiGiacomo died on November 20 2015 as a result of that cancer Although DiGiacomo s death occurred over 14 years after the attack and almost 2 years after the January 2014 dissolution of the Humane Law Enforcement Division the Officer Down Memorial Page considers her death to be in the line of duty This makes DiGiacomo the only known line of duty death in the history of the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Division 5 Equipment EditThe agents of the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement have full police powers 6 Their police powers stem from a law that was written in 1866 by ASPCA founder Henry Bergh They are certified New York State peace officers and have statewide jurisdiction though they only work in the confines of New York City s 5 boroughs Manhattan Queens Bronx Brooklyn and Staten Island The agents of the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement have the same equipment NYPD police officers do plus some items that are specialized for animal related work The agents are issued either a Glock 19 9mm or a Smith amp Wesson 5906 9mm handgun pepper spray ASP baton and handcuffs Their squad cars are Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors vans and SUVs They carry poles and cages for animal catches and seizures Reception EditThe success of Animal Precinct led Animal Planet to create an umbrella rotation of similar shows known collectively as Animal Planet Heroes Though the shows have similar formats each has its own unique elements due to the differences in the ways the individual cities deal with animal care and cruelty cases There have currently been eight similar shows based on the Animal Precinct concept Animal Cops Detroit Detroit Michigan Animal Cops Houston Houston Texas Miami Animal Police Miami Dade Florida Animal Cops San Francisco San Francisco California Animal Cops Phoenix formally Animal Planet Heroes Phoenix Phoenix Arizona Animal Cops South Africa Cape of Good Hope South Africa Animal Cops Philadelphia Philadelphia Pennsylvania Animal Cops Miami also Miami Dade Florida In 2002 the series won the Genesis Award for the Best Reality Programming category See also EditASPCA ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement DivisionReferences EditGeneral Animal Precinct All Episodes AOL Television Retrieved 29 January 2008 Specific Animal Precinct at Ground Zero TV Show To Spotlight ASPCA During WTC Crisis Charity Wire 1 September 2001 Archived from the original on 21 October 2007 Retrieved 28 January 2008 Jordan Ann K Whaley Lynne T 2008 Investigating Your Career 2 ed Thomson South Western p 273 ISBN 9780538975025 Animal Discover Animal Precinct Animal Planet Tina Salaks Archived from the original on 7 January 2013 Retrieved 12 July 2013 Stuart Kelly White Joe 2004 Dare 2B Wise 10 minute devotions 2 inspire courageous living Howard Books p 76 ISBN 9781451605266 Special Investigator Diane DiGiacomo Lane Marion Zawistowski Stephen 2008 Heritage of Care The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Praeger Publishers p 113 ISBN 9780275990213 External links EditOfficial website Animal Precinct at IMDb ASPCA page on Animal Precinct NPR story on Weekend Edition Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Animal Precinct amp oldid 1128826259, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
