without a permit and keeping a dog without a licence last year.

Despite the Magistrate's ruling, Nigel Rawn Tucker, of St. Augustine's Hill, maintained his innocence saying the Dogs Act needed to be reviewed so that it can be more accessible.

Two dog wardens went to his home on August 19 to investigate a complaint that illegal breeding was going on and saw a bitch with its breasts full of milk.

Jeffrey Benevides, the assistant dog warden, said he told Tucker of the complaint and he took them to a concrete shed where there were eight Dobermann puppies between two and three weeks old.

"I told him it was an offence to breed dogs without a permit and he told me the dog was bred overseas.'' Tucker, meanwhile, said the Dobermann was imported pregnant.

"As far as I was concerned I had to be present when the dogs were bred,'' he said. "I was told it was an offence because I knew she was bred before she came to Bermuda but the Act was not clear.'' Tucker said the bitch was imported on June 3 with a male dog and he had a permit to import both animals.

The puppies were born on July 22, 1994.

"I didn't tell Agriculture and Fisheries anything because I was not aware I needed a licence if the dogs were bred in the United States.'' Magistrate the Wor. Cheryl Ann Mapp told Tucker that "ignorance of the new legislation was no defence although it may be an explanation.'' She said the old legislation still required him to have a licence from Agriculture and Fisheries.

"You are in the trade,'' she said. "You should keep abreast. For you not to know is against you. Under the old act you would still be committing an offence.'' Since Tucker had three previous offences for having unlicensed dogs and failing to provide adequate care and shelter for another animal, Mrs. Mapp fined him $250 for breeding the Dobermann and producing the puppies.

He was also fined $150 for keeping three other dogs with no licence.