Ving Rhames had to defend himself, his English bulldog and three bull mastiffs against charges the dogs killed a housekeeper while Rhames was out of town.
There is also an irascible, motoring Jack Russell terrier, whose arthritic hindquarters are mounted on wheels, and a variety of predatory mastiffs with an eye for porkers.
Among them recently: a reporter working on a magazine story about the bull mastiffs that once roamed the Rockefeller estate, another writer researching historical figures and their dogs.