Hurstpierpoint, UK - Animal welfare officials have discovered 204 Yorkshire Terriers crammed into a garden shed in a village near Brighton.
The discovery was made after the death of a 73-year-old Yorkshire Terrier breeder, who lived in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex.
The 204 dogs were stuffed into tiny carrier boxes and kept in a 40ft shed with no windows. Six puppies were found dead.
Lisa Gooch of Brighton Animal Action said the animals' living conditions were the worst she had seen.
"The carry boxes were full of excrement with the dogs wedged in at the top. They were dripping from the urine they had been lying in for so long," Miss Gooch said.
"They were all absolutely starving and thirsty, but there were a lot that were just so weak they were on death's door."
Billy Elliott, Worthing and District Animal Rescue Service spokesman, said they had taken in six of the dogs, who would need a lot of care and attention.
"They were almost walking as if they were crouching down, as if they had never stood up," he said. "They will need several baths before the smell goes away."
Rescuers also found 37 cats living in the squalid conditions.
Klare Kennett, of the RSPCA, said that if the breeder had been alive, the maximum penalties magistrates could impose were six months in prison, a £20,000 fine, and a lifetime ban from keeping animals.
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