Bear vs. Dog

[Andiphant]

I just read this article in my home town paper. Thought I'd share it.

Beagle faces off with grizzly
By TIM MOWRY
Staff Writer


Thursday, April 29, 2004 - When Tiffany Morris looked out the window and saw her pet beagle, Buddy, standing face to face with a grizzly bear on Tuesday night in Anderson, she couldn't bear to look.

"They were standing there nose to nose, looking at each other," said Morris, describing what she said is the scariest moment in her 20-year life. "I thought, 'My dog is going to get eaten.'

"I couldn't look," she said. "I just dropped onto the floor."

Her sister, Tammy, meanwhile, was at the window banging two pots together trying to scare the bear away, a technique that wasn't working.

Panicked, Tiffany ran to another room to get a phone to call for help. Before she did, she heard a 911 tone come over an EMT radio that belongs to her boyfriend, Cory Leff, who is the town's fire chief. The dispatcher said there was a bear in the yard across the street.

"I grabbed the radio and said, 'No, it's in our yard. He's attacking our dog. We need help,'" she said.

Fortunately, the Anderson cavalry arrived in time to save Buddy.

"In a matter of two minutes half the town was here," Tiffany said. "I looked out and saw rifles everywhere. That's when I felt safe."

The bear, a sow, was chased off and killed a few minutes later by local residents in the small town nestled in the woods off the Parks Highway about 80 miles south of Fairbanks.

The only injuries 12-year-old Buddy suffered were a slobbered-on back and emotional trauma, Tiffany said.

"He had slobber all down his back," she said. "He was laying on the floor shaking and breathing hard for about four hours afterward."


There's more to it here.

[sabies]

That had to be scary but I wish the bear didn't have to die .

[lute]

i agree. it's a cool story and i'm glad the dog is ok,but i wish the bear didn't die.

[Andiphant]

Yeah I thought people might be concerned about the bear.
Well that is simply a different way of life in Alaska. Once a bear starts coming into neighborhoods they become a very dangerous threat to people and pets alike. They start depending on eating garbage, left out dog food, etc. and become very territorial. Also if you read the whole article it was bear hunting season and the bear was killed by a hunter with a license to do so. Unlike the lower 48 there are hundreds (or even thousands) of bears in Alaska and many, many people hunt them. If the bears were not hunted to keep the populations down, other populations such as moose and caribou become very threatened. Not only are these also important species, but many people also depend on them for their sole sources of meat. Also, the bear meat will likely be eaten. My family loves bear sausage.

[ramanth]

What a brave beagle.

[SandraDee]

I'm glad the beagle was okay. That must have been very scarry for those girls! Up here in Ontario, Canada, we have had our share of bears on our property. I even had one at the bottom of my front stairs! My son heard it in the dog food dish at 1:00 in the morning. My hubby chased it away with a spot light. It heard our cat in a tree and took off chasing it. We heard our cat, Oliver let out a screech and we thought the bear had gotten him. We were very surprised to see the cat back at the front step in the morning. Thank goodness!