MENDHAM TWP. - A proposed law that would bar any resident from having more than six dogs is apparently aimed at a 5 Thakery Lane homeowner who raises champion Rottweilers.

The property owner, Vincent Carraba, said he will sue if the law is approved by the Township Committee.


“I’m devastated,” said Carrabba. “My whole life is my dogs.”

Animal protection representatives opposed the proposal and said it would punish responsible pet owners and that current laws can be applied to stop loud or threatening animals.

The law was introduced on Nov. 29 and is scheduled for a public hearing and final vote on Monday, Dec. 12. The proposal was previously introduced in October but was delayed until it was reviewed by the township attorney. It was unanimously introduced Nov. 28.

The proposal would be retroactive and if passed, would require Carraba to either give away or have most of his Rottweilers put down.

“Telling people right before Christmas that they have to get rid of their dogs or have them put down is unconscionable,” said Carraba’s lawyer, Scott L. Carlson of Riker Danzig of Morristown.

The impetus for the proposal was not clear because neither Mayor Frank Cioppettini nor Vice Mayor Samuel Tolley would comment. Cioppettini declined to comment until after the public hearing while Tolley said he was not familiar enough with the plan to speak.

Long History

The issue goes back about seven years when a neighbor first complained to the township and threatened a lawsuit if action was not taken against Carrabba.

Public records showed that Carrabba’s home was inspected and that the animals were deemed to be not threatening, were well cared for and the home was clean. Carrabba was given a summons for illegally operating a kennel, although he said he raises the dogs to show around the world and any sales are made through facilities in Staten Island, N.Y. and Syracuse, N.Y.

The proposal would allow three dogs per property, with one for each added acre, up to a maximum of six.

Carraba, 37, owns a security company and has lived in town for seven years.

He and his wife, Lisa Landi, are currently raising 12 Rottweilers on his three-acre property. He said no one has ever complained that his dogs are aggressive and that he pays walkers to regularly walk the pets in the neighborhood.

He gets regular deliveries of high quality meat to feed his pets which he shows around the world, most recently placing high in events in Italy and Germany. Carraba said he breeds one dog a year and sells an average of five pups each year from his facility in Syracuse, N.Y.

He said he fell in love with Rottweilers after he got his first one when he was 16 and living with his family in Staten Island. He moved to the township, in part, so he could raise many of the animals.

“I always wanted to have my own land,” Carraba said. “I left Staten Island because I wanted to live my dream.”

No one answered the door at the Carraba home but a large Rottweiler with the signature large head and powerful body was in an outdoor cage and true to the breed, barked loudly and aggressively at the approach of a visitor.

Carraba’s lawyer said the Carrabas take good care of their animals.

“We’re trying to put the brakes on this ordinance,” Carlson said. “You shouldn’t penalize responsible people. They’re probably the most responsible animal owners you would meet.”

After receiving a complaint from a resident in April 2010, Nora Jacobs, the town’s animal control officer, inspected the Carraba property. She determined that the Carrabas were not operating an illegal kennel but were “hobby breeders.”

“There are no state statutes that prohibit dog owners from breeding their pets,” Jacobs reported.

She also said the premises were “immaculate” and the 12 dogs and two puppies were “well cared for” and that there was “little barking” by any of the dogs.

Jacobs inspected the property again on June 21, 2010. At the time, Carrera had 14 dogs and Jacobs again found they were well cared for and that there were no violations.

Russ Heiney, the township zoning official, reported on April 16, 2010, that the first inspection was conducted about four or five years earlier after a complaint by a neighbor and that no violations were found.

The Animal Protection League of N.J. has joined on the side of the Carrabas. The league’s programs director, Janine Motta, wrote in a letter to residents that ordinances limiting the number of dogs would have unexpected and unfortunate results.

“Dog limit ordinances do not recognize that many dog lovers can care for many dogs and by doing so prevent the unnecessary impoundment and killing of healthy dogs,” Motta wrote. “The Animal Protection League of N.J. upholds the right of homeowners to be free from nuisances caused by others and existing ordinances can adequately address such issues.”

Motta wrote that laws limiting the number of pets unfairly penalize responsible pet-owners.

The Humane Society of the U.S. also recommends against setting pet limits. Nora Parker of St. Hubert Animal Welfare Center in Madison also said laws limiting animals do not stop pet hoarders and that existing laws are adequate to address noise and other animal complaints.

Animal organizations meanwhile said that the powerful mastiff-like Rottweiler has an unwarranted reputation for being aggressive. A spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club said the behavior of Rottweilers like all animals, is a result of training and not breed. She said that breeds that are used as show dogs have extensive socialization and are even less likely to be aggressive.

According to the Official Rottweiler Guide, the Rottweiler was used in Roman times to herd cattle and protect property from wolves, thieves and other dangers.

“The ferocity of the Rottweiler is owed to its origins and its initial occupation and history shows that unless they were strong and ferocious during their herding time, they would not have lasted against the natural and human predators,” the guide said. “It takes a lot to control and master this animal, and you will need to have an active and assertive personality so it can respect you as its leader. Obedience training is of paramount importance for this dog breed, and this has to be done before it becomes full grown.”

The guide said Rottweilers are intelligent and can be great companions.

According to the American Rottweiler Club, through the 1970’s, the Rottweiler was a fairly uncommon dog in the United States. In the early 1980’s the breed grew in popularity, and has been the second most popular AKC breed since 1992.

 Did you ever wonder why people disagree about the winners at a dog show? We all have at one time or another, but we know from our experiences that what we think we observed usually depends on many things. At most shows its a matter of where you sit or stand during the judging and what you know about the breed standard, structure and movement. Each of these elements tends to influence what we see and think. For example, when a dog is standing, much of its anatomy can be noticed, but when it is gaiting, its movement is often quicker then the eye. In the confined space and limited time allowed in the show ring, even the educated eye that knows what to look for can be misled. In the ring, many things are happening at the same time. Since dogs can move in different ways, where we position ourselves will determine which part of the judging we will see. It might only be the sidegate or perhaps the down and back, or maybe just the individual examination. ....more

New research on the biology of aging in dogs suggests a link between shortened life expectancy and ovary removal.

The study, published in the December 2009 issue of the journal Aging Cell, found that Rottweilers that were spayed after they were 6 years old were 4.6 times as likely to reach 13 years of age as were Rottweilers that were spayed at a younger age.

The finding is important because the average life expectancy of Rottweiler dogs is 9.4 years, observed research team leader Dr. David J. Waters. "Our results support the notion that how long females keep their ovaries influences how long they live," he said.

Dr. Waters is the executive director of the Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation at the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Ind. The foundation is home to the Center for Exceptional Longevity Studies, which tracks the oldest living pet dogs in the country.

Although the findings may challenge long-held notions about pet neutering, Dr. Waters believes veterinarians shouldn't dismiss the research outright but, instead, see it as an exciting development in pet longevity research.

"It was once considered a fact the earth was flat, and then somebody's data said otherwise. That's what scientific discoveries dothey reshape the intellectual terrain," said Dr. Waters, who is also associate director of Purdue University's Center on Aging and the Life Course and a professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences.

Dogs are a good model for cancer studies in humans, and now there's growing support for using pet dogs in research aimed at helping people live longer lives. The National Institute on Aging, for instance, issued a call in November for information on the feasibility of studying pet dogs to advance the study of human aging.

Dr. Waters' team spent a decade collecting and analyzing medical histories, longevity, and causes of death for 119 Rottweilers in the United States and Canada that survived to 13 years of age. These dogs were compared with a group of 186 Rottweilers with more typical longevity.

Researchers found that female Rottweilers have a distinct survival advantage over malesa trend also documented in humans. That advantage appears to be determined by whether the female dog is sexually intact, however. "Taking away ovaries during the first four years of life completely erased the female survival advantage," Dr. Waters said.

The Rottweiler research mirrors the findings of the Nurses' Health Study published in May 2009 in Obstetrics & Gynecology by William Parker, MD, and colleagues from the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, Calif.

Dr. Parker's group studied more than 29,000 women who underwent a hysterectomy for benign uterine disease. The findings showed that the benefits of ovary removalprotection against ovarian, uterine, and breast cancerwere outweighed by an increased mortality rate from other causes. As a result, longevity was cut short in women who lost their ovaries before the age of 50, compared with those who kept their ovaries for at least 50 years.

How ovaries affect longevity in Rottweilers is not understood, but Dr. Waters' research points to a new set of research questions, recalibrating the conversation about removing ovaries.

"We liken this to an ecosystem," Dr. Waters explained. "If you take the caterpillars out of an environment, what are you left with? I'm betting that like removing all the caterpillars, removing ovaries has unanticipated, unforeseen consequences. An adverse effect on longevity might just be one of those consequences."

Does Dr. Waters recommend that every dog owner delay their pet's ovariohysterectomy? Not at all. In fact, he cautioned against overgeneralizing the study findings, saying much more research is needed.

"We studied purebred dogs living with responsible owners. You could say our results aren't pertinent to stray dogs or mongrel dogs. I don't believe every Rottweiler or every woman will benefit from keeping ovaries. That's an all-or-none stipulation, and that's not how biology works," he said, adding that tomorrow's challenge will be to identify which individuals benefit from retaining or removing ovaries.

To meet the needs of veterinarians who want to better understand the biology of aging, Dr. Waters developed a Gerontology Training Program for DVMs at Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation, based on his experience teaching biogerontology to graduate students for more than a decade at Purdue. As longevity research advances, veterinarians need to be prepared. "We make the surest progress when cutting-edge research and cutting-edge education go hand in hand," Dr. Waters said.

R. Scott Nolen