The owners of a confiscated pit bull which was put down amid public protest at the end of last year have had two more dogs seized and killed by Government wardens.

Gina Davis and her son Reyel Bowen were devastated when chocolate brown puppy Hershey was destroyed in December, having been stolen from their home, recovered by police and handed over to the Department of Environmental Protection.

They accepted two mixed-breed puppies from a friend of Mr Bowen soon after — but the unlicensed pets were taken from their home on Park Hill in Warwick by wardens last Wednesday and put down.

Ms Davis, director for instruction and staff development at CedarBridge Academy, told The Royal Gazette she was overseas at a conference with students at the time and came home to find four-month-old siblings Gabby Sweetie and Sunni gone.

“If I thought Hershey being put down was sad, Gabby being put down was even harder because she was really and truly my pal,” she said. “She slept in my room. Before she went, every night she was in my bed being rubbed down. She was my walking partner. She was very, very friendly to people and friendly to dogs.”

The 52-year-old claimed Bermuda Police Service officers entered her and her son’s locked apartments and gave access to the dog wardens, though she remains mystified as to how they got in.

“I can honestly say I don’t know what happened. When I came back [to the Island] on Wednesday, my mama said the dog wardens were in the neighbourhood. She said ‘I locked them in the house, in their cages’. I said ‘okay, fine’.

“When I got home my house was locked. I walked in my house, used my key to get in my house and the dogs were gone. I do not know how anybody got in the house. When I went down to my son’s apartment, his door was open.

“They [the dog wardens] told my son that the police entered the house through a window and let the dog wardens in. All I know is that the dogs are gone.”

She said that, like Hershey, it wasn’t certain if Gabby and Sunni were part pit bull — a banned breed in Bermuda.

Ms Davis described both as “mutts” but said her son was planning to have the dogs DNA-tested in order to try and get them licensed.

“I liken it to murdering a person,” she said. “You suppose that something is something and you say you are going to kill it?”

She said some might criticise her and her son for taking in the animals and she “understood their perspective”. But she added: “The fact of the matter is the dog was alive. Would I rather she was with me than someone who would [dog] fight her?”

Mr Bowen, 26, said a friend whose licensed dog was impregnated by a stray gave him the pups after hearing what happened to Hershey.

“He didn’t want to put down a whole bunch of pups so he gave them to me and I gave my mother’s dog to her and allowed her to name it,” he said.

Mr Bowen said he obtained a DNA kit online and had sent samples from the animals overseas before they were seized, though he has yet to receive the results. The dogs had been microchipped and Gabby was due to be spayed.

“I’m sad; I’m hurt,” said Mr Bowen. “They were basically family members. It’s heartbreaking for this to happen to me twice. I might have brought it on to myself but it’s just wrong. They didn’t give me any advance notice that they were coming to my house.”

Hershey was put down on December 6, despite a 2,000-signature petition calling for her to be saved. This newspaper reported last month how the owners of another suspected pit bull, Isis, were given ten days to get it off Island to ensure it didn’t face the same fate as Hershey.

Mr Bowen said: “They haven’t even offered that option to us. For some people they allow them to send the dogs overseas. I know for us they just seized the animals and we aren’t able to do anything.”

The Department of Environmental Protection last night confirmed illegal dogs were seized from a Warwick property on February 19 after the Department received information.

“Illegal dogs were found and seized,” said a spokeswoman. “The owners face prosecution on this matter.

“As is standard practice for such matters, police officers accompanied the wardens to keep the peace. The Department thanks the Bermuda Police Service for their assistance.

“The Department reminds the public that receiving illegal animals is an offence. Dogs may be obtained legally via importation under permit or from the SPCA or from a licensed breeder.

“A legal dog from the latter two sources would come with a registered microchip and a licence. Owners of illegal dogs should consider surrendering or exporting their animal before being caught.”

A police spokesman said: “The Bermuda Police Service attended this matter as secondary support only as the dog wardens exercised their legislated responsibility under the Dogs Act 1978.”