The first year in New Orleans hasn't been easy. The fifth season finds Torres in a completely re-established Villalobos in the heart of the New Orleans' ninth ward. The city offers even more stories of rescue and rehabilitation including a mission involving a protective mama dog and her litter of seven puppies and Tia's dangerous retrieval of two stray pit bulls hiding beneath a precarious two-ton pile of lumber. This season, Tia and her staff are confronted with more cases of dog abuse and dog fighting than ever before. With bigger and more dangerous rescues, Tia, along with her family and parolees, will stop at nothing until peace is restored in "The Big Easy."

• Tia Torres