Dog shelter
© Dog Tales
Danielle Eden is no stranger to hell.

She usually brings a few dogs back from there.

As cofounder of Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary, she has visited countless animal shelters throughout the world. And often she would bring dogs in the most dire circumstances back to the rescue's own rolling 50-acre property in King, Ontario.

But she wasn't prepared for what awaited her at a shelter she visited in Israel last January.

Every last dog was in desperate straits.

"This is the worst shelter she had ever seen," Clare Forndran, media director for Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary, tells The Dodo.

dog shelter
© Dog Tales
More than 250 dogs were squeezed into a space designed for just 70. Rats abounded. Many of the dogs had spent years there. Every bit of bread flung into a kennel was an invitation to brawl.

dog shelter
© Dog Tales
"Dogs were literally fighting over a loaf of bread," Forndran says. "There were more rats than dogs."

Indeed, dead rats, mingled with live rats, who mingled with dogs who had been eking out an existence there for years.

dog shelter
© Dog Tales
Once she surveyed this sordid scene, Eden couldn't choose which dogs would have a chance at new lives in Canada. They were all living in abject misery.

Dog shelter
© Dog Tales
So she decided to buy the entire shelter.

Since then, Dog Tales has taken responsibility for all 250 dogs. Over the last two months, it managed to relocate 90 within Israel. Another 25 have made the journey to the Ontario sanctuary.

dog shelter
© Dog Tales
And 150 remain. But that shelter is undergoing a transformation thanks to a team in Israel assigned the task of making it habitable, while veterinarians administer to the animals' immediate health concerns.

The goal is to bring all of the remaining dogs to Canada.

dog shelter
© Dog Tales
And that mission is already off to a promising start. Among the early 25 arrivals, more than half have already been adopted.

Dog shelter
© Dog Tales
Their diet no longer consists of bread. They are learning to trust again.

Want to help? Consider signing up to give one of them a forever home. Visit Dog Tales' adoption page here.

Click here to visit their Facebook page and watch a short video hi-lighting their visit to the shelter.

*This story originally appeared on The Dodo.

About the founder of Health Nut News:

Erin Elizabeth is a long time activist with a passion for the healing arts, working in that arena for a quarter century. Her site HealthNutNews.com is less than 2 years old but has already cracked the top 20 Natural Health sites worldwide. She is an author, public speaker, and has recently done some TV and film programs for some of her original work which have attracted international media coverage. You can get Erin's free e-book here and also watch a short documentary on how she overcame vaccine injuries, Lyme disease, significant weight gain, and more.