London, UK - A picture is worth a thousand words – or in this case, hundreds of dogs discovered in a horrific state of neglect by an animal welfare organization in the UK.

A photo posted by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Facebook looks like something out of a movie.

It shows over 250 poodle mixes crammed into one room of an elderly woman's household.

"There can be many reasons why people end up with far more animals than they can care for, such as mental health conditions, disability, bereavements, and serious financial issues," the RSPCA wrote.

Dogs Dog owners want to euthanize their pup after eight years, and the reason is infuriating

"These cases are often complex, and the people involved need help and support to get back onto the right path or to access the services they need themselves."

Cases of this nature are often complex and those affected need help and support, says the animal welfare organization.

"We were contacted by Dogs Trust to help them find rescue spaces for 250-poodle cross dogs being kept in a home by an extremely vulnerable, elderly owner," they said.

The pic only gives an idea of what it must have been like in the woman's house: the dogs are dirty, their fur is matted, and there is far too little space.

Since the posting, however, the RSPCA has been faced with a completely different problem.

In the comments section, several users accused the organization of faking the photo, which is hardly surprising given how astonishing it looks.

The RSPCA quickly refuted the allegations, posting a second picture of the stunning case and writing: "We can confirm that AI has not been used to create this image. As much as we wish this image wasn't real, sadly it very much is – and we are being called to more and more multi-animal reports like this."

"We don't need to use AI as we have countless stories to share about the animals our frontline teams are helping."

Dogs National Unicorn Day: Poodle's makeover divides the internet

Indeed, this rescue operation was not as special as you'd think: on the contrary, the RSPCA said that it has had more than 75 similar operations in 2025 alone.

"Due to several extremely large-scale rescues like this, we're now facing a capacity crisis," the organization told Facebook users. "There's never been a more urgent time to adopt. Start your search today."

As for the rescued dogs, thankfully, they are currently "fine and doing really, really well," a representative told the BBC.