The animals sported long hair and were starving as they pawed at bars on their cages in a desperate bid to escape. Investigators also discovered foxes alongside the dogs in the rusty cages, which did not have access to drinking water or food. An investigator from animal-welfare group Open Cages said: “We were shocked.
“It was appalling to see the animals in so much fear and distress.”
“Appalling conditions like this are not unusual in the fur industry,” the investigator said.
“Millions of animals are slaughtered every year for their fur. The cramped conditions, and isolation of individuals, makes this industry unavoidably cruel.
“For animals that are adapted to roam vast distances every day, living in a tight cage is torture.”
After making the shocking discovery, the activists took six of the dogs and four of the foxes to be treated by vets.
One of the dogs had a broken leg.
They then returned to the farm and save 11 more animals.
One fox needed to have an amputation because of painful foot abscesses.
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But Open Cages said the farm was legal as it was “in the register of the main veterinary inspection”.
Investigators have not found out why the dogs were being kept at the farm.
It is also not yet known whether any animals had been killed for their fur.
The owner reportedly told the group of activists the dogs were supposed to be scaring away thieves.
But the group was not sure how the animals could do that from inside the cages.
Fur farms have been banned in the UK since 2000.
But Britain has imported more than 650 million worth of animal since then.
They are controversial as they have been accused of causing unbearable living conditions for animals.
Being trapped in confined conditions can also lead to psychological stress and even cannibalism.