Assante has a licence to breed

The Judge Dredd star houses champion dogs at his upstate New York farm and has a licence to breed.

He explains, “I just love German Shepherds and I’ve had them for years. If I don’t have three or four dogs, I don’t feel complete. I’ve always had a big brood of dogs and I have breeding permission to have that many dogs on the farm.

“I recently found out that one of the females I bred won three championships.”

But, with so many dogs come the occasional heartbreak when one dies: “I lost a champion German Shepherd this year that I raised, who bred me 25 champions – died of old age, thank God.”