Janice Moran, who has worked with Save Our Strays and Paws dog charities, and saves up to 35 dogs a week from pounds, said that new regulations put in place by SAS Airlines will cause the deaths of countless numbers of animals.

"We don't know why the airline is doing this and we can't get any straight answers, " she said. "At the moment, we have six dogs waiting to go to new homes in Sweden and now we can't get them out. We have more dogs booked on a flight for next Tuesday. We don't know what's going to happen to them."

Since yesterday, no dogs are allowed to fly SAS Airlines, unless they go as cargo, which can cost up to 700 per dog. It means that the Swedish dogs charity, Dogs Without Homes, can no longer afford to collect abandoned Irish dogs for prospective Swedish owners.

"Lurchers, whippets and greyhounds are the dogs that will most be at risk now, " said Moran. "These dogs are abandoned in their droves by Irish people, but the Swedes love them because they are quite rare over there. Swedish people, and other nationalities, have been cleaning up Ireland's mess when it comes to this issue for years. Now they can't even do that anymore."

The six dogs waiting to leave the country all have Swedish families awaiting their arrival.

"Those families are devastated they won't be getting them now, " said Moran. "We're all devastated. Hundreds of dogs are going to die needlessly and no one seems to be willing to stop it."

A spokesman for SAS Airlines confirmed that, for economic reasons, dogs can no longer travel on their commercial flights. "We just don't have the resources to fulfill that particular process, " he said. "However, pets can now travel with SAS cargo and we can ensure they will get to their destination in that way."