A farmer shot four dogs which killed a sheep after a pack of 10 animals were “dumped” on a road near Moffat.
Police are appealing for information to trace the owners of the dogs which are now being cared for at the Dumfries and Galloway Canine Rescue Centre.
Dumfries dog lover Lee Herron helped to rescue the strays which were roaming on the B719 road.
Lee, who runs the Lost Dogs Dumfries and Galloway Facebook page, said: “I woke up on Sunday morning to loads of messages about these dogs and I hoped it was a hoax. Sadly it wasn’t.
“These dogs have possibly spent their lives in a barn. They were exhausted, dehydrated and starving and didn’t get in this state overnight.
“This situation has broken my heart – they’ve probably spent their lives locked up.”
Police received calls from concerned members of the public on Sunday morning about the pack that was moving along the B719 between Moffat and Greenhillstairs, urging motorists to slow down as they tried to collect them.
One sheep died and another was attacked by the pack before a farmer killed four of the dogs.
After several hours on the road, with numerous volunteers helping to stop traffic, and supplying crates and leads, the rest of the dogs were taken to Glencaple.
Lee added: “I want to say a huge thank you to our amazing police officers who did every single thing they could today to get these dogs safe.
“It was a massive team effort to get the six safe. It was not an easy situation with 10 dogs dumped in an area they do not know, with nothing but each other.
“They’d likely been dumped on Saturday night at around 9pm. They’d been distressed and also there was thunder and lightning in the area.
“We also believe the farmer had also done everything he could to secure them first. These weren’t bad dogs, just ones dealing with instincts in a stressful situation. They were exhausted, confused and nervous.”
She added: “If you have any information on what happened to lead to this, please contact 101 and let them know.
“Thank you to every single person who turned up in the area and helped and to the kennels at Dumfries and Galloway Canine Rescue Centre for taking these dogs in.”
A fundraising appeal for the dogs has been started and people can donate through PayPal at paypal.me/lostdogsdandg and marking the donation “Moffat dogs”. Bank details are available on the Lost Dogs Dumfries and Galloway page on Facebook.
