ANIMAL SHOW Amanda to the Rescue is coming back for a second season on Jan. 6 on Animal Planet, promising “a lot more consistency” this time around according to its star, Amanda Giese.

“[Consistency is] the most important part because the best part about Season One was the educational platform and then on top of it showing the animal — showing how they came into our care, the care we give them… and then from there finding their forever families,” Ms. Giese told BusinessWorld during a phone interview late last year.

Ms. Giese leads Panda Paws Rescue, an American non-profit animal rescue organization along with her children, Jade and Beast. They are based in Washington but have staged rescue efforts much further away — in Puerto Rico after the onslaught of Hurricane Maria in 2017, and in Hawaii after Mount Kilauea erupted last year.

On its second season, Ms. Giese said that the film crew is now “in this thing together with me” and that they are very much part of “every rescue mission,” unlike in the first season when the crew “were getting their toes wet.”

The aftermath of the rescue mission in Hawaii will be shown as a two-part special in the upcoming season.

The new season will also feature a crossover special with Pit Bulls and Parolees, another Animal Planet show which has been running for 13 seasons now. The show features Tia Torres who trains pitbulls and operates the Villalobos Rescue Center which employs parolees to care for the animals.

“[The episode] is really, really amazing because it starts with her episode and there’s no break between our episodes… You get to see the journey of a very special needs dog that we teamed up on,” she said.

For all the work she’s done both off and on camera, Ms. Giese said that what makes her happiest is “seeing how many people have learned from each episode… that’s exactly what I wanted: an educational platform.”

“The education and involvement for animal welfare there is exactly why I wanted to do and that’s everything I’m seeing,” she added.

THE ANIMAL RESCUE MOVEMENT
In the past few years, Ms. Giese observed that there has been a growing movement around the world where people are encouraged to adopt and care for rescues instead of buying animals from pet stores.

“I’ve really started seeing the most change over the past five years, but I have seen a tremendous amount of change in the past 18 months. We just passed a bill [in the US Congress in November called the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act] so we are seeing significant changes for animal welfare and animal rights. We’re also seeing a significant change in the amount of people overlooking purebreds and not caring about looks or breed, just temperament and behavior,” she said.

But there’s more to be done as movements “take a long time” because “we’re educating old school mentality.”

“We’re trying to evolve in the most positive direction possible and show humane efforts, equality, and things like that and that also counts for the animal welfare world,” she said.

“It’s going to take a while but we’re making huge, huge strides in the right direction in every single country,” she added.

Amanda to the Rescue Season 2 starts airing on Jan. 6, 9 p.m., on Animal Planet. The channel is available at Sky Cable channel 40 (SD) and 194 (HD); Cignal channel 143; G Sat channel 19; and via other cable providers. — Zsarlene B. Chua

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