percent increase on 1999 when 414 canines were picked up for various reasons.

Still, Dog Warden Jeffrey Benevides, in the job just over a year since replacing Leonard (Shinah) Simons, remains the eternal optimist that those figures will go down.

And with two new assistant wardens coming on board in the coming months -- the most the department will have ever had -- Mr. Benevides is upbeat about the year ahead.

"We have two more wardens coming on in April and the plan is to have one warden in the kennel and one in the west end area,'' he explained.

"It's not necessary to have someone here all day, we clean the dogs twice a day.'' Presently that function, as well as many others such as picking up stray, unlicensed or mistreated dogs, answering complaints, filing reports and working closely with the Police and SPCA, is carried out by Mr. Benevides and assistant warden Harry Bean.

There is seldom such a thing as a day off for the wardens who are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ready to respond to yet another dog situation.

"We can get called out at any time,'' said the dog warden.

"If there is any dog emergency on the weekend they can contact the Police and the Police will page us. We have to work seven days a week, to feed the dogs and clean the kennels.

"It's pretty hard on us, but it will make a difference when we get the additional help.'' A few days ago, Lifestyle reporter Lawrence Trott, spent a day with Mr.

Benevides and learned firsthand just how difficult the dog wardens' job really is.

*** It is 10 a.m. at the Government Kennels in Southampton and already Dog Warden Jeffrey Benevides is performing one of his daily tasks, feeding the dogs and spraying down their cages before hitting the road to tackle some of the complaints that come into his department daily.

The day begins with 12 dogs in the kennels, including three pit bull puppies in one cage of the 15 cages. Within a half hour assistant warden Bean arrives in his truck with four more dogs, including a Rottweiler that has apparently gotten loose.

After some enquiries Bean has been able to identify the owner and puts the dog back in the truck to be returned home. It doesn't appear to be any negligence on the owner's part, just a dog that used his strength to good effect.

"The majority of people on the Island are responsible dog owners, it's just a few bad apples who force laws and restrictions that affect the law-abiding citizens,'' said Mr. Benevides.

The three other dogs, including an older dog that appears to be a cross between a Rottweiler and Labrador, are put into separate cages, leaving just two cages to fill during the rest of the day.

Two days before there were only five dogs in the kennels and Mr. Benevides admits the days are as unpredictable as they are long.

When dogs are first brought in they are checked for tattoos in the ear and micro-chipping which help with identification. In the case of one German Shepherd crossbreed picked up in the Crawl Hill area, the wardens had trouble reading the tattoo so it is a matter of waiting to hear from the owner.

"It has a tattoo in its ear and I've called all the other agencies to get a reading on the tattoo and no one has the information,'' explained Mr.

Benevides. "Three of us looked at the tattoo and might be reading it wrong. A tattoo isn't the clear way of doing it, micro-chipping is the way to go.

"We do it for every dog that comes through this kennel, a micro-chip works for the life of the dog. We just run a scanner over the dog and it picks up a number, we then check our database and have the owner of the dog.

"Micro-chipping also works if somebody steals the dog. I would advise everybody to get their dog micro-chipped. For instance, a lot of dogs look alike and people argue `that's my dog'.

"The dog wardens, vets and the SPCA Inspector are the only ones who have technology to scan the dog.'' After making sure the kennels are clean, the two wardens decide which jobs to tackle and take to the road.

Mr. Benevides' first stop is just off the Tribe Road in Southampton where at one home and an adjourning vacant piece of land he deals with an unlicensed dog upstairs, two others not licensed downstairs and two brown Pit Bulls tied in the trees yards away.

Mr. Benevides is familiar with these cases but today he is taking action. The owner of the first dog arrives while he is still there and readily admits the dog hasn't been licensed. She asks him if he can change $100 to have the procedure done -- for this spayed dog it's $20 -- and he takes the money, promising to return soon with her change and the licence tag.

Then he goes downstairs to post a sticker -- similar to what traffic wardens do to parking offenders -- on the dog box instructing the owner to get in touch with him immediately or face prosecution.

A woman who arrived in the car with the other dog owner tells the warden that her teenage grandson is responsible for one of the dogs in the trees, but that she was sick of the whole thing and would be glad to see the dogs taken away.

One of them has a skin infection. "If the owners don't get hold of me within three days I can consider the dogs, those in the cage or on chains, to be stray dogs,'' said Mr. Benevides.

"A law that came out in September states that any dog in a public place shall be on a leash. When you take someone's dog you would be surprised at how quickly they get hold of you. You have something they want and in most cases are very co-operative.

"We want to bring the standards of how people keep their animals up to where it should be.'' It seems fashionable for young men these days to have a mean dog and that is probably the case with the 15-year-old keeping the dog or dogs in the trees, albeit with adequate shelter. Mr. Benevides estimates there are about twice as many unlicensed dogs as the 4,500 dogs licensed with his department.

"A lot of people are getting dogs for image and a percentage of people who have dogs specifically have them for the reason of dog fights,'' he concedes.

"People need to be educated that it's a very cruel thing to do.'' Certain types of dogs are getting into the hands of irresponsible owners, but Mr. Benevides points out that there are still plenty of responsible and caring owners of those breeds.

After promising to collect the two Pit Bulls on his way back to Southampton, he drives a short distance down the hill to another house to check on a complaint about two Pit Bulls attacking some chickens.

Complaint number three is answered just off Cobb's Hill in Warwick where a parent is concerned about a dog allegedly chasing children on their way home from school.

"A stern speaking to will probably straighten this one out,'' says the warden as he turns onto Cobbs Hill.

At the house he speaks to the elderly female occupant while the untied dog stands in the yard barking as he protects his property.

When told of the complaint the lady is quick with her response: "Yeah, and some of them have been throwing rocks at him, too!'' Still, she is reminded of her responsibility to keep her dog on her property and within minutes, a satisfied Mr. Benevides steers his van out of the yard as the dog sleeps in the sun, one eye open.

"There is always two sides to every story.

"Sometimes we're like social workers, bringing peace between the parties. A lot of it is just about being neighbourly.'' The Agriculture and Fisheries office is the next stop and Mr. Bean's van is already in the yard, Rottweiler still in the back. He, too, is checking on his messages and making notes before returning the calls.

Both wardens spend a few minutes talking with Allison Thomas, the Animal Husbandry clerk whose functions include entering the information on the dogs into the computer to make the wardens' job easier and dealing with permits of animals coming into the Island.

"She and Jonathan Nesbitt, the Government Vet, are very supportive of us,'' Mr. Benevides says appreciatively, adding that Ms. Thomas is invaluable.

"There is a good working relationship in our office.'' Lunchtime has come so we hit the road again, this time to 42nd Street for a quick fish sandwich from Art Mells, which Mr. Benevides claims are the best around.

The day is only halfway through and now it's off to the east to answer a complaint about a dog that isn't being properly cared for in Hamilton Parish.

What he finds is an unlicensed Pit Bull mother with nine puppies, five male and four female. Having an unlicensed dog and breeding without permission carries a maximum fine of $5,000 but the owner defends his case, saying the dog wasn't bred intentionally, that a neighbourhood dog showed up when she was in heat.

Mr. Benevides takes the relevant information from the cooperative owner, including his name and phone number and confiscates the puppies. A court appearance will probably be the outcome.

The puppies are dropped off at the SPCA on the drive back to Southampton, which included another stop at the first house we visited just off Middle Road in Southampton where he picks up the two Pit Bulls in the trees and gives the other dog owner her $80 change and paperwork as her now licensed dog wags her tail.

The arrival of the two Pit Bulls at the Government Kennels will take up every available cage space at the facility, though the turnover is constant. "This is just an average day,'' the dog warden notes as he feeds the new arrivals, cleans the other cages and prepares to head for home as the sun starts to drop behind the trees.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 From dog catchers to social workers Jeffrey Benevides and assistant Harry Bean, clearly have to love what they do to be able to put up with the many unpleasant things associated with being dog wardens.

Ten years in the department, Mr. Benevides went from assistant to Leonard (Shinah) Simons to the head post in November 1999, with Mr. Bean coming on board a month later.

"I couldn't have asked for a better man to work under than `Shinah' Simons,'' Mr. Benevides concedes.

"I got married around the same time I took on the dog warden's post so my life changed a lot in that year.'' Together with the Police and SPCA they help enforce dog legislation, but it's not just about catching stray dogs on the street and sometimes they live dangerously.

"In the last 10 years the role of the dog warden has gone from a dog catcher to an enforcement role,'' said Mr. Benevides, 30, who previously worked as a Police Cadet. Mr. Bean has a degree in social work, having previously worked in Government care.

Both admit they couldn't see themselves doing anything else, and the fact that they are dog owners themselves, means that they can bring some sensitivity to the job.

"I'm a dog lover to the bone,'' says Mr. Bean who owns five Miniature Pinschers.

And because of the nature of their job, both have been forced to call on their previous training to deal with some tricky situations pertaining to owners.

"Social work definitely comes in handy,'' Mr. Bean admits.

"Eight months ago the Police introduced an APO (Animal Protection Officer) who works closely with us and the SPCA,'' Mr. Benevides revealed.

"We work together if it's not safe to go into some areas by ourselves.

"I can plan my whole day and not a thing that I planned gets done because the pager goes off to assist Police or the SPCA. It's a link we need to keep with the Police, we help each other out.'' But despite the nature of their work, the wardens say dog bites are rare.

"I've been grazed, never bitten,'' says Mr. Bean of his first year on the job.

He and Mr. Benevides travel with dog restraining equipment in their vans but don't usually have to resort to using them.

"I've been bitten three times which needed medical attention, but it goes with the job,'' said the senior warden.

"People ask me if I'm afraid of dogs, but I'm not afraid, just cautious.'' Says Mr. Bean: "From the outset you can gauge how a dog is, if it's wagging his tail that's a good sign.'' Most of the dogs at the Government Kennels last week were Pit Bulls, but the ferocity normally associated with these dogs wasn't evident that day. "In Bermuda, Pit Bulls get a bad rap but it's the owners who we have more problems with,'' said Mr. Benevides.

"Only five percent of the dogs we deal with are aggressive enough to pull out our equipment. Dogs are more aggressive on their own territory.'' A lot of the laws regarding dogs is about education, something Mr. Benevides hopes the department will be able to address more thoroughly once the two new wardens begin.

The extra men will also give them more teeth to deal with more pressing issues such as curbing the incidents of dog fighting, which Mr. Benevides has promised to tackle. "We know where the areas are and where it happens, just give us time,'' said Mr. Benevides.

"With more dog wardens we will be having a lot more court cases.'' There is an $80 reclamation fee for a first time offender reclaiming a stray dog.

"Repeat offenders will go to court, we're not going to take it out on the animals,'' Mr. Benevides stressed.

Both wardens are certified in euthanasia (Oxford Dictionary terms it as `bringing about a gentle death') and while dogs don't usually stay at the Government Kennels more than four days, putting dogs down is always the last resort. Adoptable dogs are transferred to the SPCA with the hopes that they can find good homes.

"At times people call us and think we would rather put animals down, but that's not the case,'' said Mr. Benevides.

"If we have a dog that's a good adoption candidate we'll hold onto it.'' Says my Bean: "You get some characters in here, all with different personalities.

I cannot speak badly about the Pit Bulls, it's the owners.''