were stolen in separate incidents.

Detectives believe the pinched pups could even have been nabbed for cruel backyard Pitbull fights.

The latest dog theft came on Thursday afternoon, when a Pitbull puppy was forced away from his owner by six thugs.

The Southampton man handed over the dog in fear of his own safety, Police said.

A spokesman added: "There were six men in a vehicle who demanded this man gave them the Pitbull.

"It would actually appear as though this was a robbery, with threats of violence being made.'' Just a day earlier, a four-month-old Pitbull pup was abducted from his garden on North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish.

The Police spokesman added that Task Force officers had reported to areas identified in Royal Gazette stories last year as venues for Pitbull fighting.

But he added: "As yet, officers have not found anything taking place.

"However, the fact that these Pitbulls are being stolen would lead us to suspect that they are being taken for some underhand activity.'' The Royal Gazette pinpointed the problem of bloody Pitbull fights in a series of stories last summer.

But it emerged that dog wardens were so busy dealing with complaints and cruelty cases that they could not go undercover to expose the gangs who deal in Pitbull fights.

Government dog warden Leonard (Shinah) Simons said last night: "Already this month we are looking at dealing with around 100 cases.

"We know that the dogs who have been stolen are puppies so it is unlikely they will be thrown straight into fights.

"Also, because they are thefts, the cases are dealt with specifically by Police and not by the dog warden's office.

"But Pitbull fights are always a concern for us, even though these cases may have a little bit more to them than that.'' Complaints about dangerous dogs, cruelty and owners flouting noise and licensing laws reached an all-time high in June 1998.

Wardens even began an investigation into one owner who kept 13 unregistered dogs at his house in Pembroke.

Their office faces a huge task to track down the thousands of unregistered dogs in Bermuda.

There are around 600 unlicensed pitbulls alone. More and more strays are being found -- up to 400 a year -- plus there are problems with dog fights and pitbull attacks.

Police probe Pitbull thefts Some Pitbull owners have also developed new cruelty methods to train their dogs for the gambling matches. They include: making Pitbulls tread water towing Pitbulls on bikes, making them run to keep up feeding Pitbulls with ultra-high Protein foods and training them to be aggressive giving dogs chemical supplements to slow bleeding making them more durable in fights.

ANIMALS ALS