What would you do if you opened your door to a barrage of burly, tattooed men in matching muscle shirts who were bellowing the words “Rescue Ink?”
Me, I would run.
Eric, Joe Panz, Big Ant, Batso and Johnny O comprise the group of tattooed hard-asses that travel America, rescuing defenseless animals from the people who abuse them.
“We have different tactics,” Joe Panz tells TV critics at the press tour when asked why not just let PETA do the job it does. “You’re going to be happy the cameras are there!”
“They call us when they get their hands full,” Big Ant adds, grinning.
The group essentially deals with complaints via their website, rescueink.org, investigating the cases that sound problematic and finding new homes for animals that are deemed psychologically sound.
“With or without the camera, we’re still going to do what we do,” Johnny O says when asked about how the series will evolve in front of the camera.
But confusion sets in when the panel is asked how they manage to get the consent of the animal abusers in appearing on the show, with one reporter even likening the situation to Cops.
Executive producer Kim Woodard steps in with an example: “There was a man who kept his dog in the basement in feces and I think he honestly thought that was OK,” she says. “Then theses guys persuaded him, and he has a chance to redeem himself on TV.”
If these men decided I needed some persuasion, I’d probably do whatever the heck they told me. Perhaps that’s why to date, they’ve saved over a 1,000 animals.
Rescue Ink beings this September on National Geographic.
Amber is currently reporting live from the TV Critics Press Tour in L.A. Check out complete coverage here. amber@tvguide.ca
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