CONTENT WARNING: This article may be distressing to some readers.

Five dogs rescued from a Sydney house where 75 animals were kept have just started their best lives in Canberra.

Volunteers from the rescue group Denise at Paws Inc (DAP) transported the five tiny dogs to Canberra this week. It was the start of a rescue campaign that will see the group take on about 20 of the dogs and secure them in foster homes.

For the group’s Canberra co-ordinator, Heidi Pritchard, it was the start of a new life for the tiny animals, most weighing around 3 kilos, all in desperate need of a better life. They’re believed to be ‘oodle’ types, likely from the bichon breed.

“We don’t know how they lived,” Heidi said, “except to say that it wasn’t good.”

Heidi, who met the dogs in Goulburn after another volunteer had brought them from Sydney, said the dogs appeared to have had little contact with the outside world, let alone veterinary care.

Dirty, matted and in dire need of care, this is how many of the Sydney dogs looked before being rescued. Photo: Denise At Paws.

The case hit national headlines last week when family members of the woman in whose house they had been living brought 75 dogs to a Sydney vet clinic. She had suffered a heart attack, and it’s not known how the dogs survived.

Once at the clinic, vet staff worked around the clock to check them over before going into foster care. They were in the poorest of conditions, with much of their fur matted so severely it was attached to their skin, so they all had to be clipped under sedation.

“One wonderful woman did all 75 of them,” Heidi said. “She patiently clipped them in batches, one at a time.

“Despite all that they’d been through, I couldn’t believe how sweet they were,” said Heidi, who has been coordinating DAP’s work in Canberra for more than 15 years.

She said DAP, which is based in Sydney, was approached directly to help when the dogs’ plight became known and, along with other rescue groups, everyone stepped up to help.

Vet checks were organised immediately and necessary treatment provided. Once in their foster homes, their carers will keep in contact with DAP to flag any further health issues.

Canberra co-ordinator of the Denise At Paws dog rescue group, Heidi Pritchard, with one of the pups now destined for a better life. Photo: Sally Hopman.

Twenty years ago, Heidi said, these dogs would have been left to die. But because everyone stepped up so quickly, that never happened.

“We’re all in the same boat,” Heidi said.

“With the financial crisis, all the rescue groups and pounds are at capacity, but when we heard about them, everyone found room to take some of the dogs.”

Heidi said the most important thing for the dogs now was to allow them “to be dogs”.

“They’ve never had that chance. They don’t know what their lives should be like.

“Dogs need to learn how to be dogs. That’s why these dogs will go to foster homes where there are already dogs, where they will be able to learn.”

DAP will put the dogs up for adoption once all vet checks are complete and their foster carers deem them ready. DAP will check all applications and carry out home inspections before approving adoptions to ensure the dog and human are the best match.

DAP is a registered not-for-profit rescue group which receives no government funding. It survives through donations and community work like sausage sizzles outside large hardware stores.

To help DAP continue such dog-saving rescue work, more information is available on its website.