Sixty five 'filthy' dogs rescued from flat

Sixty-five "filthy" dogs have been rescued from an apartment after they became too much for their owner to handle.

Margaret Green Animal Rescue took in the mix of chihuahuas, dachshunds and poodles from the property in Newton Abbot in Devon, and are treating them at their centres in Tavistock and in Wareham, Dorset.

The dogs have undergone health checks and vaccinations, though some remain "frightened and traumatised from their ordeal", the charity said.

CEO Nigel Mason told the BBC: "They smell a little better now than they did, that's for sure."

Conditions for the dogs, some as young as two weeks old, were so terrible that staff had to use smelling salts.

The centre said the owner had become "completely overwhelmed by the number of animals in their care and was struggling to cope, so urgent action was needed to get the dogs to safety".

"People get a dog, they allow it to have puppies, and then it goes on and in the end you end up with 65 dogs and no way of being able to care for those dogs in the right way," Mason explained.

"But it's sad for everybody involved."

The centre, founded in 1965, has been working with the RSPCA and several volunteers to look after the dogs, some of which require round-the-clock care.

Mason said: "They're all pretty filthy I have to say, and we've had volunteers with them over the last few days.

"They've got some massive worm burdens... in fact so much so we've seen worms coming out of some of the pup's noses which is really unusual."

He added: "I'm not sure that many of them, if any, had ever seen grass.

"We've got some wonderful video of them seeing their first grass and running around like mad things."

Mason stressed that none of the dogs were aggressive, despite what they had been through, and that they were "already showing signs of wanting to say hello to our staff and volunteers".

Many of them are expected to be ready to rehome in a few weeks time.

Despite the large operation to start their "journey to an easier, better life", Mason said it was not the largest rescue his team had been involved in.

"I think 198 dogs in one place was the last one we dealt with last year," he said.

"So this by comparison is a lot, but it's not the most."