A Torbay man is warning dog owners to keep their pets on a leash after he found two beagles trapped in a snare early Friday morning.

Alex Chafe said he heard howling around his house on Evenings Path around 2 a.m. Friday, and went to see if he could find the source of the sound.

"I tried to track them but couldn't find them, so first thing this morning I went out to try and see where they were."

Chafe said he found two small dogs with wires like a noose around their necks about four of five metres off a trail.

'Not totally responsive'

"There was one dog that was in hard shape. The snare had really tightened around this guy's neck," Chafe said. "The second dog — he was in better shape but he was pretty spooked."

The snares had one wire tightly around a pure-breed beagle's neck, but two wires had trapped a second beagle-cross.

The area where the dogs were found was not far from a popular walking trail in the town of Torbay. (CBC)

"The beagle, he was in pretty bad shape. He was was not totally responsive and he had a snare really tight around his neck," he said.

"The second dog [was caught in] two snares, but luckily for him they weren't quite as tight."

He called Torbay Animal Control, which he said showed up within a short period of time and freed the dogs.

They were then taken to a vet.

Chafe said the snares were set just off a popular walking trail. He said he wants other owners to be vigilant.

"It would only take my dog getting off the leash or me dropping the leash [and] he could be into the woods and caught in a snare in seconds."

Torbay Mayor Ralph Tapper told CBC News the dogs are expected to make a full recovery, and one has been released from the vet.