The fourth installment of Shelter Me, the emotionally charged, uplifting documentary series that brings attention to America’s dog shelters, airs this month on PBS. It’s hosted by actress and animal advocate Allison Janney, who also shares the screen with her three adopted dogs.
“I am honored to bring awareness to the thousands of loving pets in animal shelters across the country that needs homes,” Allison says. “I adopted three amazing dogs and they bring so much joy to my life.”
Here’s a preview of what’s in the new episode: Shelter Me: New Beginnings focuses on two story lines. In one, nine pilots from Wings of Rescue volunteered to fly 128 dogs from overcrowded shelters in California, where the dogs were soon to be put down, to Idaho, where shelters had the space to spare.
“They were all adopted in two or three weeks,” says director and producer Steven Latham.
The other story involves nationally recognized animal trainer Aimee Sadler from Dogs Playing for Life, who visits shelters in Philadelphia and Baltimore to teach volunteers and dogs to interact in a play yard together. Not only does the program provide the dogs with the proper exercise regimen, but “it shows how each dog works well with other dogs,” says Latham. “That can be an important factor for many when choosing a pet.”
“The uplifting stories told in the series reinforce how incredible shelter pets are and why they deserve a loving home,” says Latham, who volunteers in six shelters in L.A. in his spare time. He says he created the series to break down the misconception that shelter dogs won’t make good pets.
“Shelter pets make the best pets,” he says.
The episode premieres Oct. 5. Go to ShelterMe.TV for local listings. You can find previous episodes of the series on Netflix and iTunes. Watch the trailer for episode four here:
Read related stories on Dogster:
