Animal Planet’s Pit Bulls and Parolees airing 200th episode this weekend

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 20: Irvin, an 11-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, who has been at Battersea for 22 days sits for a photograph at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home on December 20, 2017 in London, England. Battersea Dogs and Cats home launches their winter 'In From The Cold fundraising campaign for stray pets. Over 20,000 pets in the UK will be abandoned over the course of this winter with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home looking after 550 dogs at any given time. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 20: Irvin, an 11-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, who has been at Battersea for 22 days sits for a photograph at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home on December 20, 2017 in London, England. Battersea Dogs and Cats home launches their winter 'In From The Cold fundraising campaign for stray pets. Over 20,000 pets in the UK will be abandoned over the course of this winter with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home looking after 550 dogs at any given time. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Pit Bulls and Parolees is airing a milestone episode this week.

Pit Bulls and Parolees, one of the most popular shows on Animal Planet right now, will hit a milestone this week as it begins another season.

The 200th (!) episode of Pit Bulls and Parolees will air on Saturday, December 2 at 9 p.m. ET, and will be two hours in length as the New Orleans-based shelter Villalobos Rescue Center. All episodes this season, which is season 17, will be two hours in length, as well.

Shelter director Tia Torres, her children, grandchildren and former parolees will all share remembrances from over the years, including the most memorable and heartwarming adoptions over the course of the show.

Villalobos Rescue Center not only provides pit bulls in need a second chance at finding forever homes, but also for parolees readjusting to life in normal society.  It began in California in the Los Angeles-area town of Agua Dulce before moving to New Orleans in 2011.

Regular members of the show in the family besides Tia include her daughter Mariah, her sons Kanani and Moe, and their wives Lizzie and M2, as Villalobos is very much a family-run operation, just like Fox Hollow Animal Hospital on Hanging with the Hendersons.

Over the years Villalobos has sent many participants to the Puppy Bowl each season, where they’ve acquitted themselves well on the field and then gone on to finding forever homes after the game was filmed.

Bully breeds are definitely not for everyone, but for some people, like actor Dave Bautista or author Cara Sue Achterberg, they are the perfect dog.

Presumably older episodes of the series will be available on the new Discovery Plus streaming service, which gathers content from across the Discovery Network, which includes Animal Planet, the Discovery Channel, Food Network, the History Channel and much more.

Pit Bulls and Parolees is produced by 44 Blue Productions, Red Arrow Studios and Rive Gauche Television.

Again, Pit Bulls and Parolees season 17 episode 1 will air on Saturday, January 2 at 9 p.m. ET.