A new season of Pit Bulls & Parolees, about a pit bull rescue center in New Orleans and the people who work there, starts on Discovery Plus and Discovery Channel April 3. The series is about the Villalobos Rescue Center, run by Tia Torres, which is largely staffed by parolees. 

The season premiere sees the center’s crew trying to catch a runaway dog, while Torres’ daughter Mariah gets a creative idea for the parolees to design fundraising apparel. 

Later this season, Torres visits a Mississippi shelter to give a hybrid wolf dog a second chance, daughter-in-law Lizzy leans on Torres for support in trying to find balance as a mother of two; tenant Lil Rocky has a cancer scare, and a pair of hearing-impaired dogs, Ben and Spike, get some extra love. 

The series launched in 2009. 

Discovery Plus and Discovery will premiere episodes weekly. 

Pit Bulls & Parolees is produced by 44 Blue Productions and Rive Gauche Television. Rasha Drachkovitch, Billy Cooper and Jen Bies Duffy are the executive producers for 44 Blue Productions. Lisa Lucas executive produces for Discovery Plus and Discovery. 

Pit Bulls & Parolees, about a rescue center that not only rehabilitates pit bulls but also employs staffers and volunteers released from prison, is on Animal Planet July 25. Tia Torres runs Villalobos Rescue Center in New Orleans. Workers there “strive to give a new lease on life to dogs that have been discarded, demonized and abused due to the reputation of their breed,” according to Animal Planet. 

In the season premiere, Torres’s daughter Mariah works to rescue Mr. Crowley, a dog that was abandoned after his homeless owner could no longer care for him. Viewers also meet Alicia, an extremely emaciated dog, after she is brought to the Villalobos dog boutique in the French Quarter. 

Pit Bulls & Parolees launched in 2009. 

The season also sees Torres step in when a rural shelter meets capacity, and take a pit bull rescued from rough conditions in Kuwait. One of Torres’s twin sons is involved in a motorcycle accident, and the entire Villalobos crew pitches in to help with his recovery. 

All past seasons of the show can be viewed on the Animal Planet GO app. 

Pit Bulls & Parolees is produced for Animal Planet by 44 Blue Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company, and Rive Gauche Television. Rasha Drachkovitch, Billy Cooper, and Jen Bies Duffy are the executive producers for 44 Blue Productions. For Animal Planet, Lisa Lucas is executive producer and Robyn Salzman is associate producer. 

Animal Planet's Pit Bulls and Parolees special this past Saturday drew a series record 1.6 million viewers, the network said Wednesday.

The show’s Giving Thanks special also set series records among adults 18-49, adults 25-54, women 18-49, and women 25-54, said network officials.

As part of the telecast, the network along with Cox Communications donated $50,000 in donations toward the Villalobos Rescue Center in New Orleans through the “You Watch. We Give.” initiative.

The show also drew big social media numbers, making it the second most-social program on TV during the day, said network officials.