THEY are the dogs that are on “death row” – with just days to live.

Lexi, Marcus and Bo have been confined in cages waiting for a loving owner to take them home.

But unless someone comes forward in the next few days they face being put down to put an end to their mental suffering.

Staff at Stubbington Ark say the trio of hounds have gone “kennel crazy” – a term used when dogs do not react well to being locked inside a cage and start pacing and barking non-stop.

Two of the dogs are also self-harming by doing flips and hurting their feet on the concrete floor.

Lexi is a 15-month-old female Staffie, who has been in the centre for three weeks after being re-homed for just a month.

Bo, a four-year-old white male Staffie crossbreed, has been there the same amount of time after being rehomed for a year while Marcus, a three-year-old Doberman, is also looking for a lifeline after his previous owners handed him over after eight months.

Vanessa Eden, head of fundraising at the shelter said: “Unfortunately on rare occasions dogs in our care cannot handle kennel life well and eventually end up going ‘kennel crazy’.

“When a dog gets close to this condition we all get worried at the shelter because in nine cases out of ten the healthy dog has to be put to sleep to avoid any unnecessary mental suffering.”

She said Lexi and Bo have just days to live unless they can be re-homed urgently while Marcus’s condition is being monitored every two weeks.

Kayleigh Allen, care assistant at the RSCPA centre, said: “Families should give these dogs a chance and at least three months to settle in. We have got very attached to the dogs, and desperately want people to come forward and give them a home.

It would be a tragedy if they were all put down.”