The criminal negligence trial for a man whose dog attacked a seven-year-old girl is underway.

In September 2015 Karim Jean-Gilles's dog mauled Vanessa Biron as she played in a Brossard park, puncturing her skull and crushing her jaw in multiple pieces. Her first surgery took seven hours.

Witnesses said the animal was a pit bull. Police at the time said the dog weighed at least 45 kg.

Jean-Gilles is accused of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and is acting as his own defence lawyer.

Crown prosecutor Claudie Gilbert said Monday morning that she will call a dozen witnesses, including Jean-Gilles's neighbours, to testify about the dangerous nature of his dogs.

One of the first witnesses was Magdalena Biron, Vanessa’s mother, who explained how she took her daughters to a park in Brossard and found two dogs running free.

Biron said the dogs quickly ran up to the family and one dog then jumped up, bit Vanessa in the face, and dragged her several metres. Biron said she was in shock and she tried to get between the dog and her daughter, lying on top of Vanessa to try and shield her from the dog.

Biron testified that she did not know how much time went by before police showed up.

Vanessa's mother then listed the full extent of her daughter's injuries: severed nerves, a crushed ear canal, broken bones in her hand. Her mother said Vanessa still has partial paralysis in her face, and had to undergo physiotherapy to learn how to smile once her jaw had healed.

Neighbour Line Bonenfant also testified, saying that when she got to the park, Jean-Gilles was trying to restrain the dog.

“He was over him and he was trying to grab his hind legs but the dog was kind of out of control, totally loose,” she said, adding that neither dog was wearing a collar.

“After, when Mr. Jean-Gilles has been able, he took the dog by the hind legs and that was the only way to control him. Finally, my neighbour screamed at him, ‘Get the damn dog back home!’ because the poor woman was lying on the ground,” she said.

Jean-Gilles's mother Hyacinth Parker was in court to support her son. In October she was found guilty of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and sentenced to three years of probation, 240 hours of community service, and ordered to donate $2,000 to Ste. Justine Hospital.

According to Bonenfant, Jean-Gilles took the dogs home but didn’t return to help the injured girl.

“Him he was sitting in his driveway and he kind of changed his look. He changed clothes and he put a headband on his head and he was looking like there was nothing, like he was curious. A curious neighbour,” she said.

Another neighbour, Neil Alexander, testified his dog was savagely attacked by one of Gilles' animals a few months before Vanessa was bitten. Alexander said he filed a complaint with the city and the police.

A city employee told the court Monday Gilles registered a dog called Ashes in 2014 and another one, named Jordan, in 2013.

His two animals have been euthanized.

Crown prosecutor Claudie Gilbert completed presenting her evidence on Monday.

Gilles, who is representing himself, did not question any of the Crown's witnesses and is not expected to call any witnesses.

He is supposed to tell the court on Tuesday whether he'll testify.

Gilles faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

With files from Stephanie Marin of The Canadian Press