National Geographic Channel's New Series - Dogtown

Follows the Rehabilitation of Michael Vick's Dogs at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

New Episodes Return This Summer

(Washington, D.C. - January 28, 2008) National Geographic Channel announced today that its new series Dogtown - currently in production of new episodes to premiere this summer - will spend the next few months documenting the attempted rehabilitation of 22 dogs that belonged to Michael Vick and are now residing at Dogtown, the Best Friends animal sanctuary in Utah. The series will focus on four of the toughest cases as the experts at Dogtown try to resocialize these seriously aggressive pit bulls. Best Friends - which has the largest number of Vick's dogs in their care - offered media a brief view of the dogs today at a press conference in Utah.

Dogtown is one of the largest no-kill animal facilities in the country, located on 33,000 acres of southern Utah canyon country and hosting about 1,500 animals at any one time, including hundreds of dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, goats and various other animals. NGC's series Dogtown takes viewers on a journey inside the sanctuary to meet the dogs and the skilled professional team dedicated to ensuring that even the toughest cases survive. Abuse or neglect has turned some of these dogs into aggressive animals, some even with a history of violence, and their trip to Dogtown is their last chance for a better life. This is especially true for the pack of 22 dogs that belonged to Michael Vick.

Dogtown's staff is tirelessly dedicated to helping even the most disturbed pooches learn to interact socially with other animals and humans. On the front lines working with the Vick dogs is a dedicated team of experts, including medical director Dr. Mike Dix; veterinarian Dr. Patti Iampietro; animal behavior consultant Sherry Woodard; trainer John Garcia; head vet tech Jeffrey Popowich; Dogtown manager Michelle Besmehn; and handler Thomas Foyles. Now NGC follows along as they face their toughest challenge yet.

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Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is a joint venture between National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and Fox Cable Networks (FCN). Since launching in January 2001, NGC initially earned some of the fastest distribution growth in the history of cable and more recently the fastest ratings growth in television. The network celebrated its fifth anniversary January 2006 with the launch of NGC HD which provides the spectacular imagery that National Geographic is known for in stunning high-definition. NGC has carriage with all of the nation's major cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available to more than 67 million homes. For more information, please visit www.nationalgeographic.com/channel.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Russell Howard, National Geographic Channel, 202-912-6652, RHoward@natgeochannel.com
Chris Albert, National Geographic Channel, 202-912-6526, CAlbert@natgeochannel.com
National Broadcast: Dara Klatt, 202-912-6720, Dara.Klatt@natgeochannel.com
National & Local Radio: Johanna Ramos Boyer, 703-646-5137, Johanna@jrbcomm.com
National Print: Christie Parell, The Fratelli Group, 202-496-2124, CParell@fratelli.com
Local Print: Licet Ariza, The Fratelli Group, 202-496-2122, LAriza@fratelli.com
Photos: Erin Smith, National Geographic Channel, 202-912-6632, Erin.Smith@natgeochannel.com