In the past month alone, dog warden Jeffrey Benevides and his assistant have answered 100 complaints from the public about possible cases of animal cruelty.

They have to investigate every single call, carry out risk assessments and then continually monitor the animals until they are satisfied they will come to no harm.

Alternatively, they can take them straight into care.

On average, they pick up 50 dogs a month. Some are returned to their owners, some are found new homes, others remain in care and a few are put to sleep.

But, for an Island so small, there are more than 11,000 dogs, both licensed and unlicensed, living in Bermuda. That is about a sixth of the human population.

About 50 percent of those animals are pitbull terriers or pitbull crosses and Mr. Benevides said dogs are being allowed to breed so indiscriminately, that number is increasing all the time and their quality is in decline.

So, it is no wonder the dog warden and his assistant Harry Bean are having to work more hours and under greater strain to meet the growing demands of an Island that is becoming increasingly cruel to its animals.

Most of the dogs they seize are pitbulls. Purely because there are so many, supply outweighs demand.

On a regular trip around Somerset and Southampton yesterday, Mr. Benevides visited a number of homes, sometimes even just clearings in trees, where pitbulls had been left tethered in the sweltering heat.

Some were lucky -- they had a dog kennel to shelter in and a bowl of water, but the majority just hid under trees and shrubs, grateful for any attention they got.

On his usual round, he chatted to owners, checked for illnesses, such as the skin disorder mange and advised on better dog care, where necessary. Some owners were happy to accept it, others were rude and obstructive but he insisted they would be visited again.

The total disregard with which some people treat their pets might be shocking to some, but to Mr. Benevides it was a normal working day.

He works seven days a week and unsociable hours, but he knows his work will never be done.

"It's not easy. I do get depressed sometimes about the way people treat their animals,'' said the dog warden.

"People think all we do is take their dog and then put it to sleep, but that's the last thing we want to do.

"But we get so many dogs coming in here, we have to put some down.'' Mr. Benevides said the Government kennels at the moment were in need of investment, but he said he was confident after renovation they would be much improved.

He said they were clean and safe and for many dogs that was a big improvement on where they had come from.

He added: "Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people on this Island who treat their dogs well and look after them, pitbulls included.

"But there are some that need to be locked up. They are the ones we are looking for and you will start to see more and more people appearing in court as time goes on and we become more and more pro-active.'' Awaiting renovation: Bermuda dog warden Jeffrey Benevides in the original Government pound.