Three nannas with three prams, approach side-by-side, right across the walking track. It's lovely to see, then a double take confirms there are no babies present.
The prams are full of ratbaggy dogs. Rescue dogs, orphaned dogs, then a few more shuffling along on leads, their eccentric gaits and sideways tongues are survival badges.
"People just ring me and say 'can you take a dog?' and the word 'Nooo' wants to come out but 'yes' comes out instead," says ringleader, Christina Darkiewicz.
"I have six rescues at the moment. I did have eight. I have a special kennel license.
"My husband and I got separate bedrooms because there's not enough room for all of us on the bed."
Ms Darkiewicz and Diane Jordan started walking their dogs around Devonport's Mersey River walkways in 2016. They were bound by a love of rescue dogs.
Charlie's Angels to the rescue
When Janice Buttery met them in 2021, this growing force for good became a trio bent on showing the world how beautiful a rescue dog can be.
"We decided we would call ourselves Charlie's Angels," Ms Buttery says, juggling Archie, a taco terrier and the hairy, mix-up boy named Benny.
"Charlie is just the most beautiful dog and we all love him. But he's so timid. He needs a lot of love.
"It took two years for him to be able to sit on Christina's knee, and he's just gorgeous.
"We just want to highlight the plight of rescue dogs. There are so many old dogs and sick dogs.
"Hopefully the people we meet go to a shelter and get themselves a rescue dog."
Three days a week, the "angels" set out together to walk along the Mersey to their favourite coffee spot, opposite the Spirit of Tasmania berth.
Most days there are nine dogs, sometimes 10 or 11. A network of water bowls comes out and there is very quickly a colourful tangle of leads.
Gizmo, the smiling assassin
"It's hilarious. We have to think about which dog is on blue, who's on orange, then it's red over blue under pink, around green to untangle," Ms Jordan says.
It's critical to get the colour coding right, too, because one of those leads is attached to a Shih-tzu-Pomeranian-cross called Gizmo, AKA The Smiling Assassin.
"I have scars all over me," Ms Darkiewicz says, revealing the latest nip wound on her thumb.
"But he's still adorable, the little shit.
"Gizmo's original owner was deaf and when she died, he was kept on a choker chain in a backyard."
Ms Jordan says she tires of people being judgemental about them taking dogs for a walk in prams.
"They're so judgemental but there are a lot of health problems here. Some heart problems, arthritis.
"They all get a turn at walking anyway but it upsets me when people don't know the story behind the dog."
On the remaining two weekdays, the ladies take their troupe to a dog park at Latrobe with an obstacle course.
Benny, who was found abandoned in a North Queensland mining town, has taught himself to jump through the hoops.
"He went through four shelters before I found him. He's just the best little boy and fast.
"The only other game here is that they all just chase Benny."
Somehow, Rusty is still beautiful
The aim of inspiring others to adopt a rescue is already paying off.
When they helped Berneice Beety and her husband Reg find their Pomeranian-Chihuahua, Rusty, he jumped in bed with them on the first night.
"This is our little rescue, Rusty. We found him through the ladies here," Ms Beety said.
"We'd been looking for two years and we ran into them and they had 10 dogs. I said, 'oh, can't you spare one?'.
"They went out of their way for us and he's such a beautiful little dog. He had a bad start. He was kept in a chicken coop.
"He has a few quirks. He's scared of some men [and] scared of newspapers. But he's a great little dog and we're very much in love with him."
Chief angel Ms Darkiewicz believes the issue is not just in the way our society treats dogs but rather, the fact that not every person who needs one can have one.
"Saddest thing is that older people who live in units and homes, your heart breaks for them because they're not allowed to have a dog," Ms Darkiewicz says.
"We were talking to this old man who loves our dogs and he's not even allowed to have a fish tank.
"And this is what keeps older people alive, you know: company, dog company."
