GARDAI are investigating the treatment of 22 dogs which were put down at the weekend after being found in a Dublin backyard shed in "deplorable conditions".
Mr Garret Freyne, a veterinary surgeon, said that in his 30 years of practice he had never seen anything like it.
"They were in an advanced state of neglect. The animals were absolutely in a starving condition. There was no body weight on them. They were in a terrified state and frightened of each other and afraid of human contact. It appeared they had not had any love or affection for a very long time."
A spokeswoman for the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) said the dogs - 20 Yorkshire terriers and two cross bred fox terriers - were starving and living in deplorable conditions.
"One was living in a box with no exit. Another was old and blind. Unfortunately, they all had to be put down on humane grounds."
The incident, she said, highlighted the need for tighter legislation to protect dogs from ill treatment, particularly dogs being used for breeding.
Gardai at Sundrive Road said they are investigating the matter and that a file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mr Freyne said the cages, at a house in Saul Road, Crumlin, were slipshod and made up of boxes. The dogs could not defecate or urinate except on top of each other. There was no exercise yard at all.
There were 10 males and 12 females, and there was no control over them. "They were Yorkshire terriers and Irish terriers, and one little bitch which they had savaged to death.
"They were covered in fleas and lice. They were skin and bone. There was no food or water. They were terrified. The conditions were absolutely horrific."
He said the dogs had to be put down. They had never been trained and could not be integrated into social behaviour. "You could not know what they would do with children."
A loft of pigeons had also been unattended, and the birds were released.
A neighbour, Ms Theresa Elliot, said she had lived next door for 14 years and had never seen any of the dogs. She and some of the neighbours had complained about the stench coming from the garden.
She said she saw the dogs for the first time when the DSPCA took them away. "They were in dreadful condition. I cried my eyes out. There was this little white one and there was nothing on him, skin and bone."
She said the neighbours had complained to the corporation, but it said nothing could be done because it was not a rented house. They next contacted the Eastern Health Board and then the DSPCA.