A starving dog with open gaping bleeding wounds was among the six dogs  admitted by an animal welfare NGO on Friday.

The dogs had been rescued by the Animal Welfare Directorate from the "squalid" farm on Biżbija, according to the Association for Abandoned Animals.

"We have named him Nathan and this is the sad state that he is in - open gaping bleeding wounds on back and completely starved," the NGO said on a Facebook post.

The AAA thanked the Animal Welfare for the rescue, especially the director, who rescued the animals from the "hellhole", which is actually a government property.

The NGO said it hoped the courts will deliver justice by punishing the dogs' previous owners.

On December 15, a number of animals were found on the same government property being used by squatters in an operation between the Directorate for Animal Welfare, a veterinary and a number of officers from the Land Department in Biżbija.

And less than a week ago a dog full of shotgun pellets was also sent to the AAA for treatment.