Miami Animal Police is an American documentary reality television series that premiered on January 5, 2004 on Animal Planet. Produced by Lion Television, the program is set in Miami, Florida and the surrounding Miami-Dade County, an area of more than 2,000 square miles. It depicts the everyday duties of Miami-Dade Police Department Animal Services Unit, focusing on the work of twenty ACOs, five civilian animal cruelty investigators, six Miami-Dade Police Department administrators, and a pitbull investigator. The show also highlights the work of various private companies that remove wild animals from places they shouldn't be, including escaped exotic pets which can pose a hazard to native wildlife and/or local residents if left unchecked. The most frequently featured of these private contractors is Todd Hardwick of Pesky Critters Wildlife Control. Kevin Hefner directs the show, which is the fourth of Animal Planet's top-rated shows and is part of an "umbrella rotation" of shows known collectively as "Animal Planet Heroes".