posted February 14, 2010 03:10 AM         

I hope they get homes

Newser) – Residents of eastern Long Island must be asking what they could have done to deserve a plague of rogue Snoopys. Feral beagles, abandoned for poor performance by hunters who used them to seek rabbits, have become a serious problem this winter. The animals have grouped into packs to seek food and locals have reported terrifying encounters with crazed, hungry beagles.

"The bark that they were barking, like they really wanted to eat me up!" says a woman who, along with her two large dogs, fled a trio of attacking beagles. They "were probably cold, hungry and desperate," she tells the New York Post.. Animal shelters are seeking homes for the wild beagles—but warn that retraining hunting dogs as pets is challenging.