JOHN CHADWICK, Staff Writer
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
08-17-1997
GERMAN SHEPHERDS INSPECTED -- DOGS ARE HEALTHY BUT HOUSED POORLY
By JOHN CHADWICK, Staff Writer
Date: 08-17-1997, Sunday
Section: NEWS
Edition: All Editions -- Sunday
Notes: Passaic page.
RIVERDALE -- The 104 German shepherds being kept illegally on a residential
property were found in an inspection to be healthy but housed in
makeshift and sometimes inadequate shelters.
Nearly 50 of the dogs owned by Joseph Petracca were found outdoors
in a wooded area, tied to trees during an inspection Friday.
'The dogs looked like they were generally in good health, and they
appeared to have a disposition appropriate to make good house pets,'
said John Barbarula, a lawyer for the Board of Health. 'But we are in no
way sanctioning the facility, because it is not an appropriate
facility.'
A Superior Court judge last week ordered the breeding business
closed. The ruling created a quandary because borough officials cannot
find a shelter large enough to hold the dogs.
Since the inspection confirmed there were no serious health
problems, the Board of Health may now give Petracca a 30-day extension
to sell the dogs. Petracca will meet with the board this week.
The 61-year-old father of three says he has been breeding dogs for
32 years on his 10-acre property at 116 Highland Ave. He admitted in
court last week that the numbers got out of hand because he has become
addicted to trying to breed the perfect German shepherd.
A total of 81 adult shepherds and 23 puppies were found in various
locations, indoors and outdoors, on the hilltop property.
Although some of the violations discovered during an inspection
last year appeared to be corrected, officials who visited the site
Friday said the property is neither equipped nor staffed to handle 104
dogs.
They said Petracca's only assistants are his two sons, ages 9 and
12.
'A normal kennel with 100 dogs takes six people full time -- he's
doing it with himself and two youngsters; and what happens when they go
back to school?' said Willie Cirone, chief of law enforcement for the
Morris County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Cirone, borough Health Officer Pat Pignatelli Jr., and Police Chief
Harry Ressland accompanied Barbarula on the inspection -- the first
official visit to the property in more than a year.
In addition to the dogs tied to trees, officials said there were a
number of makeshift pens and shelters including storage crates, a row
boat propped up on two cinder blocks, a fenced-off garden, and a car
port.
'Everything was makeshift,' Cirone said.
Keywords: RIVERDALE. ANIMAL. VIOLATION. PROBE
Copyright 1997 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
08-17-1997
GERMAN SHEPHERDS INSPECTED -- DOGS ARE HEALTHY BUT HOUSED POORLY
By JOHN CHADWICK, Staff Writer
Date: 08-17-1997, Sunday
Section: NEWS
Edition: All Editions -- Sunday
Notes: Passaic page.
RIVERDALE -- The 104 German shepherds being kept illegally on a residential
property were found in an inspection to be healthy but housed in
makeshift and sometimes inadequate shelters.
Nearly 50 of the dogs owned by Joseph Petracca were found outdoors
in a wooded area, tied to trees during an inspection Friday.
'The dogs looked like they were generally in good health, and they
appeared to have a disposition appropriate to make good house pets,'
said John Barbarula, a lawyer for the Board of Health. 'But we are in no
way sanctioning the facility, because it is not an appropriate
facility.'
A Superior Court judge last week ordered the breeding business
closed. The ruling created a quandary because borough officials cannot
find a shelter large enough to hold the dogs.
Since the inspection confirmed there were no serious health
problems, the Board of Health may now give Petracca a 30-day extension
to sell the dogs. Petracca will meet with the board this week.
The 61-year-old father of three says he has been breeding dogs for
32 years on his 10-acre property at 116 Highland Ave. He admitted in
court last week that the numbers got out of hand because he has become
addicted to trying to breed the perfect German shepherd.
A total of 81 adult shepherds and 23 puppies were found in various
locations, indoors and outdoors, on the hilltop property.
Although some of the violations discovered during an inspection
last year appeared to be corrected, officials who visited the site
Friday said the property is neither equipped nor staffed to handle 104
dogs.
They said Petracca's only assistants are his two sons, ages 9 and
12.
'A normal kennel with 100 dogs takes six people full time -- he's
doing it with himself and two youngsters; and what happens when they go
back to school?' said Willie Cirone, chief of law enforcement for the
Morris County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Cirone, borough Health Officer Pat Pignatelli Jr., and Police Chief
Harry Ressland accompanied Barbarula on the inspection -- the first
official visit to the property in more than a year.
In addition to the dogs tied to trees, officials said there were a
number of makeshift pens and shelters including storage crates, a row
boat propped up on two cinder blocks, a fenced-off garden, and a car
port.
'Everything was makeshift,' Cirone said.
Keywords: RIVERDALE. ANIMAL. VIOLATION. PROBE
Copyright 1997 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
