A man accused of illegally breeding from a pit bull has pleaded not guilty — claiming the dog's pregnancy was not his fault as she was chained up at the time.

Gerald Georges is charged with "breeding from a female pit bull known as Pepper without a licence".

The breed is one of several classed as "dangerous" under Government policy, and placed under breeding and import restrictions.

Entering his plea at Magistrates' Court yesterday, Georges, 34, of Greenwich Lane, Devonshire protested: "The dog was tied to a chain when the dog got pregnant. It was not like I stuck a dog on her, she was on a chain!"

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner laughed, and responded: "All right, that's a different one. It sounds like a substantial defence to me. Maybe the moral of that story is to lock up your dog at night."

He set a trial date for October 10 and bailed Georges until then.