Breeders Sue After $100,000 Show Dog Dies
By JASON W. ARMSTRONG (Daily Journal Staff Writer)

SANTA ANA -- At 125 pounds and 5 years of age, Othello, a strapping male Rottweiler, had just won the title of “Best of Breed” at the World Dog Show in Mexico City last July, and it looked to his owners as though he would be the father of a long line of champion dogs.

But just a couple of weeks after winning the title, his owners say, Othello appeared “deathly ill,” and the expensive pooch had to be rushed to the veterinary emergency room.

After a two-week stay in the hospital, the dog, valued at more than $100,000, died.

Othello’s owners, Robert and Edee Bolognesi, say the cause of death was Rimadyl, a prescription drug made by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which was given to Othello for a slight limp in his right front leg.

The couple, who breeds and trains champion Rottweilers for a living, says Othello’s death has robbed them of more than half-a-million dollars in breeding, sponsorships and other residual benefits. They filed a lawsuit late Thursday in Orange County Superior Court against Pfizer, alleging the prescription drug manufacturer failed to warn them and their veterinarian about the potential hazards of Rimadyl or to investigate reported instances of death or injury to animals that have taken the drug. Bolognesi v. Pfizer Inc. 00CC08965.

Rimadyl, ingested in chewable tablets, is prescribed to dogs with arthritis, according to Pfizer’s Web site.

The Bolognesis’ lawsuit comes on the heels of a South Carolina class action against Pfizer also faulting Rimadyl. The class action, filed in October, alleges that more than 1,000 pets have suffered injury or death as a result of taking the drug. The action, which is pending, also says Pfizer failed to give adequate warnings of the potential dangers of Rimadyl.

The Bolognesis’ attorney, Robert Newman, a Santa Ana practitioner who devotes a large portion of his practice to cases involving animals, said his clients’ case stands out from the class allegations because their suit involves larger damages.

In most animal cases, Newman said, damages are limited because the law views animals as mere property.

But in this case, the dead dog could be the key to more than $750,000, he said.

Robert Bolognesi said that if Othello had lived, the dog could have been bred between 25 and 50 times a year. Because the dog had won a world championship title, the “stud fee” -- the price paid when a female is bred with a male -- would have amounted to about $2,000 per breeding, Bolognesi said.

Othello could legally have been bred until he was 11 years old, which means he could have generated income for about five or six more years, Bolognesi said. He estimated that in Othello’s death, he probably lost “about $100,000 a year.”

The suit, which seeks a sum “in excess of $25,000,” alleges negligence, strict liability, breach of implied and express warranties, fraud, unfair trace practices, conversion and deceit.

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