Southold shelter has 4 beagles abandoned by hunters

At the Southold Animal Shelter, four beagles sit in small cages hoping to be adopted.

The dogs, presumed lost and abandoned, are part of a declining trend, shelter officials say, in which some hunters - having lost a dog on an outing - then leave them behind once they've caught their game.

Gabrielle Glantzman, the shelter's kennel manager, said it saddens her to see people abandon the animals she describes as friendly and caring.

"They can get hit by cars or have a hard time finding food," she said.

A few years ago, workers found two beagles dead in the street, Glantzman said. Other beagles have come in so malnourished and weak that they die shortly after arrival.

Police, or good Samaritans, often bring the dogs in after finding them in the wild. The shelter staff also routinely patrols areas frequented by hunters in search of stray dogs.

During the early 1990s, the shelter would take in as many as 40 beagles during an annual rabbit hunting season which lasts from November to February, Glantzman said.

That situation prompted shelter officials to launch an advertising campaign asking hunters to stop leaving the dogs behind.

Gillian Pultz, executive director of the North Fork Animal Welfare League, which runs the shelter, said she believes the tactic worked.

Last season, the shelter took in five beagles. Currently, four, Wilma, Wilber, and Reese's Pieces (the two dogs Reese's and Pieces are a couple), live at the shelter.

Anyone interested may adopt the dogs for $75 from the shelter. Beagles bred for retail sale can cost anywhere from $650 to $1,300, according to breeders.

"They are truly wonderful dogs," Pultz said.