12 greyhounds have been seized by Revenue officers in Dublin Port over the weekend.
The animals were being transported in a Spanish registered vehicle in cramped conditions and had no access to food or water.
They were placed in cages with two dogs per cage stacked on top of each other.
Additionally, three of these cages were not accessible without loading unloading the rest of the vehicle.
It is estimated the dogs would have been travelling for 24 hours without sustenance before arriving at their destination in Spain.
They are in the care of the DSPCA who said that several of the greyhounds had minor injuries and high temperatures.
All of them were showing signs of dehydration.
Paperwork for the dogs examined by DSPCA staff show that they are registered with the Irish Greyhound Stud Book and originate from trainers in Cork, Kerry, Tipperary and Wexford.
Records also show that nine of the 12 dogs have raced in the last month, on raced last in 2016 and two have no race records recorded.
The DSPCA said they were "appalled by the barbaric treatment" of the animals.
CEO Brian Gillen said: "This seizure flies in the face of the illusion being created by IGB that animal welfare is being taken seriously.
"The continuing grant of €16.8 million of taxpayers money is no longer acceptable."
The service has called on funding allocation to the greyhound industry to be withdrawn from Budget 2020 by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed.
In a statement, the Irish Greyhound Board said they were made aware of the incident and have launched a full investigation.
A spokesperson said: "The IGB condemns any mistreatment of greyhounds in the highest possible terms.
"Any person or persons found to have been in breach of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 have been and will continue to be subject to prosecution."
