A Pembroke man has been fined $2,000 for keeping 12 dogs without licences.

John Caesar, 37, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court this morning to keeping one male and one female pit bull-type dog in the same enclosure without a licence between a date unknown and July 1 last year.

Ten others, all puppies, owned by Caesar were also found on his property without licences.

He denied breeding the female dog without a licence, and the Crown offered no evidence on that count.

The court heard that animal wardens from the Department of Environmental Protection visited Caesar’s Pembroke home on July 1 last year.

Prosecutor Alan Richards said the defendant was not at home at the time but the wardens heard barking and discovered the female and male dog in one enclosure and ten other dogs in another enclosure on the same property.

He said that a search had previously revealed that Caesar did not have a licence to keep or breed the pit bull-type dogs and that he did not have a licence to keep more than two dogs at his property.

In court, Caesar said that he found the male dog four years ago and that he had been given the female dog.

He said that he did not intend to breed them and that he was planning on taking the puppies to the SPCA.

“The dogs had all their shots and everything,” Caesar said, adding that he did not understand why the dogs were killed instead of confiscated until he could get them licensed.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo fined Caesar a total of $1000 for keeping the male and female dogs, and a $1,000 for keeping more dogs than he was permitted on his property.

Also in court, Clay Smith, 29, of Southampton, denied keeping a brown and white pit bull-type dog without a licence in Southampton between a date unknown and May 28 last year.

Mr Tokunbo granted $1,000 bail and set a trial date for May 22.