Six dogs found in an appalling state have been rescued.

The Yorkshire terriers were emaciated, had matted coats and were covered in sores.

They are being cared for by South East Dog Rescue, at High Halden, where staff are nursing them back to health.

Rebecca Leather, who runs the refuge with Kymm White, said: "They were in an awful condition.

"On a scale of one to 10, with one being the worst, they were about a two. They were one of the worst cases of neglect we have seen."

"Their coats were all matted as they had never been groomed, they had sores all over them and were painfully thin..." - Rebecca Leather

The rescue centre was told the dogs had been found dumped in a box at Swanley and had been taken in by a woman.

"We did not know much more about them," said Rebecca. "Kymm went straight up there and they were in a far worse state than we had been led to believe.

"Their coats were all matted as they had never been groomed, they had sores all over them and were painfully thin.

"We took them to our vet who reckoned they were aged two or three and had possibly been used for puppy farming. We think they had been used for back door breeding and then abandoned.

"Unfortunately we are getting more cases of this and Yorkshire terriers are a popular breed – people can be horrible."

The dogs, four males and two bitches, have been carefully bathed, cleaned and groomed by the refuge.

Now staff are looking for foster and permanent homes for when they are ready to go.

"Ideally we want them to go in pairs because they are very reliant on each other," said Rebecca.

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