It took a trip halfway around the world to reach Valley Road in Paget, but new Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Inspector Philippa Mello had no hesitation in making the journey.

Not only did the post represent her first professional career job after graduating from college, but also she was closing the circle on a family tradition.

Born and raised in Bermuda until she was 11, there has never been a time in Inspector Mello's life when she hasn't been involved with animals. Her mother Lynne was a riding instructor who, together with her father Anthony, founded the Leebow Riding School, so she says she was "out in the barn" from the time she was born.

The family also had dogs and cats, and when the latter gave birth to a litter, young Philippa "played midwife".

In addition, she spent many happy childhood hours at her grandparents' Valley Road home, where rabbits, chickens and goats were kept. For many years, she showed not only her grandfather's goat but also her family horses at the annual Agricultural Exhibition. As a child, she also visited then-SPCA inspector Louis Ray and his wife at the Valley Road shelter.

Against this background, Inspector Mello's love of animals and interest in their welfare was virtually inescapable.

"I had to laugh when my mother, who was pretty unconventional, told me she raised me like a foal," she smiles. "She has given me independence and confidence in myself, and basically a lot of knowledge that you can't buy or study to learn. Instead, you learn every time you do something. That's really been the key thing with me."

When she, her sister Heidi and her mother subsequently moved to New Zealand, a country in which animals feature prominently, Inspector Mello became involved with horses, cows and sheep. In fact, at one of her schools, which had a calf club, she raised a little Jersey called `Sunshine'. Throughout her high school education her studies included science and agricultural subjects.

When her mother became an equine instructor at a rural college, which also had a number of farms and shipped horses and beef, Inspector Mello had an opportunity to spend time working on various farms.

Later, when her mother became a Royal New Zealand SPCA inspector, her daughter had even more occasion to be involved with animals, so against this extensive animal-related background perhaps it was unsurprising what her initial career choice would be.

"For as long as I could remember I wanted to be a veterinarian, but once at Massey University in Palmerston, New Zealand I changed tack a little," she says. "After three years I gained my Bachelor of Science degree in physiology, and two years after that I gained my Master of Science degree, majoring in physiology. My area within that was animal welfare science and animal behaviour. My thesis was on natural horsemanship - the round pen training of horses."

In terms of animal behaviour, Inspector Mello says her main focus has been large animals, including horses - something she sees as an asset to her new position.

"It is important to me as an SPCA inspector because I can use behaviour as an indication of health and well-being in an animal. There is also animal psychology, where you can help to deal with behavioural problems. Horses with problematic behaviour are my speciality."

Inspector Mello also holds a certificate in equine sports massage therapy.

"My particular spin on that is injury prevention and recovery, and performance enhancement," she says. "The horse is an athlete and as such you need to be able to keep it in top working order, so I can go in and assess the horse, and can diagnose muscular problems. Sometimes you massage for maintenance, at other times you remember problems in specific areas.

"With that and my behavioural studies, in addition to my SPCA responsibilities I also massage horses for some clients, and am doing some psychology lessons with a young girl and her pony to improve their relationship," she says.

With her university days in New Zealand behind her, and a wealth of animal-related knowledge inside her, Inspector Mello wondered just what her professional career future would hold - but not for very long. One day an e-mail arrived from sister Heidi (a farrier) in Bermuda, advising her of the vacant SPCA position.

As much as she loved New Zealand, and despite the fact that she had lived there for approximately 13 years, the transplanted Bermudian lost no time in applying. During an April visit this year she was successfully interviewed, and took up her position just over a month ago. Exchanging a large country for her tiny homeland has left her with no regrets.

"I was away for so long that it's really nice being back, and spending time with my family - my dad Anthony, my sister Heidi, and my stepmother Miranda, who is just fantastic. She's horsey, into animal care, and we share an interest in animal-assisted therapies. Contact with animals is an important physical and mental therapy for helping with behavioural problems, stress, or for companionship."

Like many first-timers setting out on a career, however, Inspector Mello admits that her initial fears about being stuck in a job she didn't really enjoy were quickly dispelled.

"I really enjoy getting up every day because I love coming to work and working with animals," she says. "The people at the shelter are a great team, and it is great to be a part of them. I really struck it lucky.

My family is really charged up by it too. They think it's great to have a Mello back on Valley Road again. My grandparents died some years ago, and now I am continuing their interest in animal welfare, so it's come full circle."

Despite only being in the job for a short time, Inspector Mello already has goals in mind.

"We are really going to push education everywhere because Bermuda is a very modern society and, like a lot of places, awareness of animal health and well-being has been lost or forgotten because some children don't have any contact with animals, and others have had minimal contact. So we hope to get programmes underway which will teach them about animal welfare because we think that is an excellent way to combat cruelty issues. Then children will be able to identify problems, and have the knowledge and the confidence to be able to report or prevent cruelty as they grow up."

The new SPCA Inspector feels that one of the biggest issues here is neglect, which does not just mean a starved cat or dog.

"It is about people spending time with their animals, companionship, and forging a bond between animal and human," she says. "It is sad when people don't have the time to spend with their animals or don't think their dog needs to be taken for a walk. Dogs are social animals and will go out of their way to be people pleasers, so it is sad when people don't spend time with them. There is a difference between what the minimum standards are for people keeping an animal and what some people would consider as a good quality of life for it.

"You are legally obliged to provide shelter, food, water and medical attention, but an animal which gets all of that may not necessarily have the best quality of life."

Regarding the welfare of horses, Inspector Mello notes that the Care and Protection of Animals Act and other laws governing the care of all animals need to be strengthened.

"Those laws are not very specific, and there are a lot of little trap doors where people can get away with things that are not right, so we need for them to be tightened up so that there are less escape points for all animals, including domestic and large animals.," she says.

"That is very important globally as well as in Bermuda. In Europe and New Zealand, for example, a lot of the animal farms have moved forward very rapidly with their animal welfare laws. Germany passed a Bill of Rights for animals, which is very progressive. We need to think a bit more carefully about how we do things in Bermuda.

"It is a privilege, not a right, to own an animal. Whether it is domestic cats or dairy cows, we have an ethical obligation to give them the best care possible. I feel very strongly about that."

Certainly, Inspector Mello is under no illusions that her post will include what she calls "good things and bad things", of which investigating cases of cruelty is one of the less happy aspects, but she also says that coming back to the Valley Road shelter and seeing the joy in people's faces as they collect their adopted kittens and dogs is a perfect antidote.

"There is always a positive balance for the negative things, and I think that is important. There are still so many people out there who care, and who put so much love, time and energy into whatever they do, especially our volunteers who are amazing. They are just the best people, and it is nice to see. They lead busy lives yet they come here every week to help out with walking the dogs and playing with the cats. It makes a huge difference to the animals."

Turning to the welfare and working lives of carriage horses, the new inspector says that these animals "are an ongoing concern" but admits there is "a fine balance between the horses working and earning an income for their owners and their well-being".

She does, however, make regular inspections of the carriage horses operating in Hamilton to ensure that all is well. On Wednesdays she checks several times during day and into the Harbour Night evenings, to ensure that horses which worked the day shift are not also working the evening shift.

Inspector Mello's official hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, but she is on call 24 hours a day seven days a week for emergencies.