This is Ben, a Jack Russell Terrier who was among about 300 dogs a judge ordered removed from the squalor of a home in North Carolina two years ago.

Tomorrow -- Friday -- Ben and two other survivors will be hosting a cruise in Annapolis, designed to help raise funds for the organization that freed them, the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Ben is the foster dog of Michelle Kownacki, owner of the Paws Pet Boutique in Annapolis. The Kownackis were among the volunteers who stepped forward during the North Carolina court case to provide foster care for the 300 abused and neglected dogs.

Kownacki didn't stop there. Last September she organized the first "Little Ben's Big Fundraiser Cruise," which was attended by 80 dogs and 165 humans and raised $5,400 for ALDF.

"Someone made the comment that it looked just like Noah's Ark," Kownacki said yesterday. At least 60 dogs are expected to board tonight.

The cruise aboard Watermark's Harbor Queen departs at 7 p.m. tomorrow from the Annapolis City Dock. Tickets are $44, and some are still available (call 410-263-8683).

Ben, and two miniature Pinschers who will also be aboard, Franklin and Georgia, were among 300 diseased, neglected and abused dogs removed from the home of a Sanford, N.C. couple after a judge's order in April 2005.

ALDF was granted custody of the animals, and the dog "hoarders" were found guilty of animal cruelty charges. All the dogs are in foster care through ALDF because the case is being appealed.

Robert and Barbara Woodley, both in their 60s, had been breeding and selling dogs for more than two decades in the small town 30 miles southwest of Raleigh.

According to the attorney who handled the case for ALDF, Mrs. Woodley had “hoarding disease" -- a psychological disorder in which a person compulsively collects vast quantities of junk, in her case, dogs. ALDF estimates up to a quarter million animals a year are victims of hoarders, and research has shown nearly three-fourths of hoarders are women, most commonly hoarding cats.

Hoarders often start out with good intentions, but their animals reach such high numbers that they often end up living in squalid conditions and suffering from ailments that include malnutrition, untreated medical conditions, dental and eyes diseases, psychological stress.

The ALDF got involved in the case after neighbors tried to get the local animal control department to take action against the Woodleys, but were unsuccessful. The Woodleys had 450 dogs when the ALDF first sought the injunction to remove the dogs but had given away 150 by the time it was granted.