The undesexed dogs were living in squalor, with no shelter, no vet care and were forced to fight among themselves for the little food that was thrown over the fence to them.

The conditions were so bad that Dee Walton, an animal rescuer of 20 years, was amazed by how any of them had survived.

"They were all laying in a paddock, they had no shelter, they were matted and they had flies all over them. We thought a couple of the dogs were dead," she said.

"The dogs had numerous injuries from fighting for food.

"There were pregnant dogs, and dogs with puppies that were living under a fridge. We had to move three fridges to get the puppies out."

The dogs - a mix of huskies, borzois, Australian shepherds and one maremma - were surrendered by the property owner; and during three separate trips in December and January, Ms Walton and fellow rescuers seized 98 dogs.

"This was probably one of the biggest [rescue], but I couldn't walk away," she said.

"The conditions were horrific that they were living in, they didn't even know what grass was. A lot of them had to have extensive rehabilitation, they'd had no socialisation."

Once the dogs were rescued, Ms Walton put the call out to fellow rescue organisations across the country for help in cleaning, treating, training and then re-homing the dogs.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Dogs were sent to husky rescue places in NSW and WA, and also Claws 'n Paws (Central Coast), Monika's Doggie Rescue (Sydney), Borzoi Club (Maitland), and the Arctic Breed Rescue (Sydney).

While the dogs have since been vet checked, vaccinated and desexed, many were not socialised and would not walk on a lead.

All 20 dogs sent to Husky Rescue WA have been rehomed, but so far just two of the 30 dogs sent to Monika's Doggie Rescue in Sydney's northern beaches have found a new home.

Husky Rescue WA's Anne Black said the dogs were initially sent to foster homes to be socialised and undergo training in readiness for them to be adopted.

"They were skinny, very skittish and you could see these guys had a really rough life," she said.

"They were very, very resistant to the lead [initially] and they're first instinct was to bite the lead. It was really traumatising to watch."

Monika's Doggie Rescue owner Monika Biernacki said huskies are not an easy breed of dog to own.

"Arctic breds are much more primitive than other dogs, they're much more cat like, they're not there to please humans," she said.

"They need people who have had arctic breed experience before or at least a lot of dog experience."

Find out more at Monika's Doggie Rescue (Sydney), Claws 'n Paws (Central Coast), Arctic Breed Rescue (Sydney), Husky Rescue WA, or the Borzoi Club (Maitland) at info@borzoiclubnsw.com.au.