Animal welfare workers have urged residents to blow the whistle on any neighbours they believe are mistreating pets as the number of cruelty cases continues to rise.

Head dog warden Jeffrey Benevides and Police Animal Protection Officer Yvonne Ricca said the public needed to be educated on what signs to look out for if they were to help in the fight against abuse.

The call came after a Pit bull was found dead on Pembroke Marsh earlier this week. It had suffered numerous bite wounds consistent with dig fighting and had been simply dumped by its owners. Whether it was abandoned before it had died, is not known.

But Mr. Benevides said dog fighting was a regular occurrence on the Island, and many dogs may be suffering the same premature, heartless deaths, but they will go unnoticed if not found.

He said dog fights take place in every parish in Bermuda and in a variety of locations, including fields, gardens, yards and even bedrooms.

Street fights, which are less organised, tend to attract bigger crowds, but professional fights, which are more organised can be very discreet and may only have about three or four people present he added.

However, the result is often the same. A dog will be maimed for life, or may die, because it's owners wish to make money by fighting it.

But unless the officers find a fight in progress and can gather evidence, they will be in a losing battle.

Mr. Benevides said: "We want people to call us as soon as they see anything suspicious. Even if they see someone that looks to be training their dog to fight, such as treading water for a long time, we need to know about it."

He said signs to look out for for fights were dogs barking; excessive noise; and a group of unknown people arriving at a location with Pit bull dogs.

The dog warden added: "We are not sure whether dog fighting is increasing, but we know it is an extremely popular sport.

"There are two levels, street level and professional level, and we think it could be increasing at the street level, however, it is very underground now.

"More and more we are coming across a lot of animals that have bite wounds and old scars that would be associated with fighting. Before, we rarely came across this.

"We are being more pro-active now, so maybe that has something to do with it, but we also need the public to be more pro-active."

But Mr. Benevides said dog cruelty did not just stop at fighting. He said he regularly found dogs tied up with chains that were almost their body weight, left in direct sunlight all day without shade or water, or left without food or attention.

He said: "Last year we had 1,302 complaints from members of the public.

"This year we have had 740 cases so far. About 39 of them have been about cruelty. That is not a complaint from us - we want people to call us, even if they are unsure about the facts. We will always go and investigate every call.

"We are very concerned about some of the situations we are finding animals in, dogs, in particular. Some owners put heavy boat chains onto their collars which weigh more, or just less, than the weight of the dog.

"They claim they need them to secure the dog, but that is not true. They do it to make the muscles in the dog's neck stronger for fighting. We only find these big heavy chains on Pit bulls.

"We found a young female dog that weighed 39 pounds not so long ago and it had a chain weighing 25 pounds around its neck. That is nothing short of cruelty. A much smaller chain will secure your dog more than adequately. These are the sorts of things we want neighbours to look out for."

Police officer Yvonne Ricca said if neighbours heard anything untoward, such as dogs barking or whining a lot, kept in uncomfortable conditions, with sores or bite wounds, or looking unhealthy, they should call for help immediately.

And she said even people who provide animal igloos - a type of kennel - for their pets could come in for trouble from protection officers if they are kept in direct sunlight.

She said: "These igloos take in the heat and they become the same as a car that does not have any windows open on a hot day. A dog could die in the heat.

"Sometimes dogs don't have any water, or they only have dirty water, or they have been given a bowl of water that they can easily knock over.

"We cannot cover everything, but we are trying our best. What we need is people to contact us and to help us.

"If people know something, it is very unethical of them to stay quiet. We are making progress, but we could make more progress with more help."

Anyone with information about animal cruelty should call the dog wardens on 236-4201, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on 236-7333, or Ms. Ricca on 295-0011.