A top criminal attorney has gone to the dogs -- in a bid to save the lives of two of man's best friends.

For dog-loving lawyer Mark Pettingill has sunk his teeth into the case of the two mongrels, Dahl and Redeem, whose death warrants were confirmed by Supreme Court earlier this week.

And Mr. Pettingill -- who has taken on the case free of charge, `pro bone-o' to lawyers -- last night vowed to try and save the lives of the animals, whose barking drove neighbours mad in three different parishes.

The news came as Bermuda's Dog Warden Shinah Simons defended the authorities against charges of heartlessness.

Mr. Simons said the dogs' barking had been the subject of complaints stretching back four years, from homes in three different parishes occupied by owners Granville Wilson and daughter Villa-Mae, who currently live in Smith's.

And he said several offers to take the dogs off the Wilsons' hands had been rejected -- leading to a series of court actions. Mr. Simons said: "The situation we are dealing with is not an animal problem, it's a people problem and we've been dealing with it since 1993. If the Wilsons had tried to assist in resolving this, we would never have got to this point.'' Mr. Simons said the courts did not have the power to remove the dogs from the Wilsons and putting them up for adoption.

He added: "The Wilsons tried to keep their property rather than doing what was best for the animals.'' But Mr. Pettingill said a 21-day stay of execution was in force since Monday's court judgement -- and that his canine clients would be turned over to the SPCA to save their lives.

But Mr. Pettingill said the original death sentence by a Magistrate got his hackles up.

He added: "Our position is the Magistrate had an option to deal with the dogs differently. They haven't bitten anyone, they just barked. All dogs bark, like all cats miaow.

"And we're determined to save the dogs from execution by whatever legal means we can come up with.'' ANIMALS ALS