A Saint John man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to more than 30 bylaw infractions involving his four Louisiana Catahoula dogs.

Michael Edmond Kirby is also charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after the dogs — called Allis, Frank, George and Danny — were allegedly unlicensed, did not have proper tags, and were allowed to run at large on the city's west side.

The dogs allegedly bit or tried to bite four different people between August and December 2018. Information filed with provincial court did not indicate the extent of any injuries.

The dogs, also known as Louisiana Catahoula leopard dogs, are a muscular working breed originally used to hunt wild boar in the Catahoula Lake region of Louisiana.

Kirby is also charged with breaching a court order to keep the dogs on his Winslow Street property at all times.

Hunting dogs

All of the charges involve "different dogs [and] the injuries are all different," said Kirby, who appeared in court alone, wearing a brown sweater over a dark red polo shirt and blue jeans.

Kirby's lawyer, Brian Ferguson, was not present in court, instead acting through agent Wes McIntosh.

The court heard that on Dec. 12, Kirby pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and elected to be tried by a judge.

On Tuesday, Kirby said he would prefer instead to be tried by a judge and jury.

'Covered in blood and feces'

When Judge Kelly Winchester asked whether Kirby had received disclosure, he requested a "replacement disclosure" for the documents he originally received, which he said had been destroyed.

When he was taken into custody by police, Kirby said, he "asked [the officer] if I could separate the dogs before we went."

That didn't happen.

"The dogs sat in the same room for 11 hours and there was a fight, so half of the disclosure has been torn up, covered in blood and covered in feces."

Surrendered to the SPCA

Kirby stated in court that all four dogs — plus an additional dog that wasn't involved in the incidents — have been surrendered to the SPCA.

Kirby was prohibited at an earlier appearance from owning, co-owning or boarding dogs, which Kirby said is a "presumptive judgment on the dogs."

"That takes care of the public safety issue," he said in court.

The criminal case was adjourned until Jan. 24, when Kirby will elect a mode of trial, and trial dates will be set.

The bylaw infractions will be set down for trial on March 26 at 1:30 p.m.