A HORWICH woman carried out a daring night raid to rescue abused dogs.

Pat Graham, of George Street, led a contingent of animal lovers, who plucked the greyhound-type dogs from "appalling" conditions at a site in Derbyshire.

Pat, who runs the Lexus Greyhound Rescue Centre from her stone terraced cottage home, has temporarily put the dogs in kennels and homes around the Bolton area while people are found to foster them.

She said around 50 lurchers, whippets and greyhounds were being kept on a farm, which the owners had claimed to be an animal sanctuary.

The RSPCA had already seized some of the dogs and started prosecution procedures against the owner.

But Pat said she felt she had to take the law into her own hands to save the remaining animals.

After a tip off from a local man telling her where to go, she and several other rescuers drove to the site late at night.

They loaded the dogs into three vans and a car and brought them to Bolton.

Pat said: "We expected something horrible but that was just terrible.

"The place stank to high heaven. We just loaded them chock-a-block into the vans."

She was horrified to find some of the dogs had been so hungry they had been eating straw.

The RSPCA in Derbyshire said Pat had acted entirely without its knowledge. He explained the dogs still belonged to the owner and the RSPCA could not have seized them without a verification from a vet.

Pat is now appealing for people to donate bedding and food.

The collection point is Puppy Love, in Kwik Save, Farnworth, or ring Pat on 01204 668589.

Anyone wishing to foster a dog, ring Kathy Scott on 01706 366853.

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