THIS THANKSGIVING, ANIMAL PLANET'S "PIT BULLS & PAROLEES" HOLIDAY SPECIAL GOBBLES UP 1.4 MILLION VIEWERS

Audience Drives $50,000 Donation to Villalobos Rescue Center in Sixth Consecutive "You Watch. We Give" Matching Initiative

(Silver Spring, Md.) - Animal Planet served up a special Thanksgiving-themed episode of PIT BULLS & PAROLEES Saturday, November 28, at 10 PM (ET/PT), which delivered a heaping 1.4 million P2+ viewers. As a result, the sixth annual "You Watch. We Give" matching initiative carved out $50,000 in donations towards Villalobos Rescue Center, the largest pit bull rescue in the country and the 501c3 nonprofit featured in PIT BULLS & PAROLEES.

The episode "A New Best Friend" is the series' most-watched episode of the season across all major demos, including P2+ (1.4M), P25-54 (538K), P18-49 (518K) and W25-54 (354K). In addition, the episode ranks as the #1 original cable telecast in its timeslot with P25-54, W25-54 and W18-49 (excluding movies and sports) and helped Animal Planet rank among the top 10 most-watched, ad-supported cable networks in the time slot with women (excluding sports).

PIT BULLS & PAROLEES was the #2 most social show on cable (non-sports) on November 28, according to Nielsen Social Guide. Fans of the series are among the most enthusiastic Animal Planet viewers, and they took to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Continuing the #ShowUsYourPits call-to-action across platforms, Animal Planet encouraged fans to share pictures of their beloved pit bulls - some were even featured on Animal Planet throughout the episode. This garnered thousands of social mentions, generating a Trending Tag on Instagram, filling up the PIT BULLS & PAROLEES Facebook page (with more than 1.4 million fans) and lighting up Twitter.

The "You Watch. We Give." campaign is part of Animal Planet's on-going commitment to make a positive impact on the animal world with the non-profit initiative "Reach Out. Act. Respond." (R.O.A.R.).

PIT BULLS & PAROLEES is produced for Animal Planet by 44 Blue Productions and Rive Gauche Television. Rasha Drachkovitch, Billy Cooper and Dave Luce are the executive producers for 44 Blue Productions. For Animal Planet, Lisa Lucas is the executive producer, and Patrick Keegan is the producer.