Phila. ‘Animal Cops’ TV show to debut
Carol Yancho was driving through Kensington when she saw a man in the middle of the street chasing after a ram.
Carol Yancho was driving through Kensington when she saw a man in the middle of the street chasing after a ram.
Yancho was on her way to work at the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, where she is working with the TV show "Animal Cops" as it follows humane law officers investigating cruelty cases and rescuing dogs and cats.
And that ram, which would have been sacrificed in a religious ritual if it had not later been recovered by PSPCA officers after Yancho reported what she witnessed.
"You never know what they're going to be handling day to day," Yancho said of the humane officers. "It makes for an exciting show."
The series, "Animal Cops - Philadelphia," premieres Wednesday at 10 p.m. on the Animal Planet cable channel. The second episode plays Thursday at 10 p.m. Eight more episodes are scheduled for later this year.
It's possible the show could stay in Philadelphia for several years, said Howard Nelson, the PSPCA's chief executive officer.
"We first heard about a year ago that Animal Planet, which is owned by Discovery...[that] they were looking for a new venue, an inner-city venue, for their 'Animal Cops' show," Nelson said.
"We made a pitch to Animal Planet and Discovery that this location would meet their needs," he said.
After a crew scouted Philadelphia and saw the officers and the types of cases they handled, the city was selected as the next featured location for the show.
The show has followed agents in San Francisco, Detroit, Miami, Phoenix, New York, and most recently, Houston.
"They've been filming for approximately seven months now and the process has been labor intensive," Nelson said.
Two camera crews have trailed the officers around Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania tracking dog-fighting rings and puppy mills.
The crews operate out of a small office at the PSPCA headquarters on Erie Avenue in North Philadelphia. Everyone keeps track of scores of different storylines on three large message boards. Each storyline has a name, often something colorful, such as "Midnight Menagerie," "Ny Ny the Tricycle Dog," and "Philly Pharm Phantasy."
The latter referred to an incident where investigators were called to a city home where someone was keeping a bull, goats and a large wild cat that at first was reported to be a tiger (later believed to be an ocelot).
While "Animal Cops" has run into all sorts of characters on the streets of Philadelphia, the PSPCA officers have turned out well as distinct characters for the reality show.
"For TV, all of these agents have really wonderful personalities and come from different places and really mesh well with each other," Yancho said.
Conversely, the officers say they have grown accustomed to having the TV crews around.
"They're great to work with," said Officer Darlene Sosa. "It's exciting."
George Bengal, director of investigations, said even many of the people accused of animal welfare violations seem eager to be part of the show.
"They were very forthcoming with the [camera crews], which was surprising to me," Bengal said.
Jackson Derbish, a soundman for the show whose last project was in Africa, said his experience with the PSPCA officers has been "awesome."
He's enjoyed it so much he became a foster owner for a pit bull that was rescued by the humane officers.
"I think folks will be proud of the agents, proud of their work in Philadelphia to improve the lives of animals," Nelson said.
For more information about the show, visit:
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/animal-cops/philadelphia/index.html
For more information about the PSPCA, visit: