MORE than 50 animals living in squalor have been rescued after a raid by police and the RSPCA.

Many of the 25 caged dogs were dehydrated and surrounded by dirt and faeces, as the sanctuary owner struggled to cope.

The raid took place at St Francis Animal Sanctuary on the A1000, Great North Road near Brookmans Park, after a tip off from Hatfield Pc Nick Roll.

The Welwyn Hatfield Times was the only paper given access to the raid.

The officers executed a warrant yesterday (Tuesday) under the Animal Welfare Act and the emaciated horses, geese, sheep, goats and cats, as well as the dogs, were all checked over by vets.

The four-acre site, which had an acrid stench and no running water, had been run for the past 30 years by Fred Brimley, who is in his 80s.

He told the WHT: “I’m just here for the animals.”

RSPCA inspector Kirsty Hampton said: “They shouldn’t be allowed to live in their own faeces.”

Vet Tony White said: “The dogs are being fed but these are not suitable conditions, they are squalid, dirty and unhygienic, there is faeces everywhere.

“It’s sad but we can’t leave them like this.”

The animals were to be taken to the RSPCA Southridge Animal Centre in South Mimms.