EMOTIONS ARE RUNNING HIGH, FAMILIES ARE IN TURMOIL AND ANIMALS ARE OVERTAKING HOUSEHOLDS IN NEW SEASON OF ANIMAL PLANET'S "CONFESSIONS: ANIMAL HOARDING"

-- "Where Are They Now" Specials on August 17 Kick Off the Second Season, Premiering August 24 --

(Silver Spring, Maryland) "Taking care of animals gives me a purpose, and if I didn't have them, I don't know what I would do." That's what many say when asked why they live with an overwhelming amount of animals -- dozens of cats, kennels of dogs, hundreds of birds, and even fists full of snakes (some dangerous, some not). Their intentions are well meaning, but all too often, the results are disastrous as they lose control of sanitary conditions and alienate their loved ones and other human contact.

On Wednesday, August 24, at 10 PM (ET/PT), Animal Planet brings back the heart-breaking and gut-wrenching series CONFESSIONS: ANIMAL HOARDING. Each of the 12 new episodes reveals the sad reality of animal hoarding, a condition defined as the compulsive need to possess and control an unmanageable number of animals.

Before the new season unfolds, Animal Planet checks back in with six people whose stories were told in the previous season. On August 17, from 9-11 PM (ET/PT), CONFESSIONS: ANIMAL HOARDING REVISTED explores what's happened to these six individuals and their animals since the cameras left. Do these stories have triumphant endings, or are the situations getting worse?

Animal hoarding is unhealthy and deeply unfortunate for the hoarders, their family members and the reported 250,000 pets hoarded annually. In the series, Animal Planet intervenes with the support of therapists, family members, friends and welfare advocates - trying to give people and animals a second lease on life.

This season, viewers will be introduced to Tom, 37, who lives with his mother and owns more than 30 venomous snakes, and also Nancy, whose hobby becomes a nightmare when her 250 lovebirds take over her home. With their situations escalating beyond their control, can they tackle their hoarding issues once and for all?

Additional stories include the following:

· An obsessive-compulsive woman who shares her home with more than 20 living cats and shares her freezer with multiple dead felines

· A successful, former chemist whose life was changed by a traumatic injury and who now lives with more than 200 cats and 10 raccoons

· A down-on-his-luck man living in his truck with 13 dogs

· A paranormal investigator who lives with nine dogs, 10 birds and the ghost that is haunting her home

CONFESSIONS: ANIMAL HOARDING is produced for Animal Planet by GRB Entertainment. Executive producers for GRB Entertainment are Gary R. Benz, Michael Branton and Dan Jackson, with Dan Partland as consulting producer. Executive producer for Animal Planet is Melinda Toporoff. Marc Etkind is vice president of development for Animal Planet.

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 97 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.