A 55-year-old woman in Butler Township, Pennsylvania, is recovering in hospital following a bear attack Tuesday night. Reports say the woman sustained several injuries while trying to protect her dog from the aggressive mother bear, who was in the company of her three cubs.
Mother bear attacks Pennsylvania woman defending dog
According to New York Daily News, the attack happened on Mar. 5 at around 8:30 p.m. The victim, Lee Ann Galante, had gone outside to find out why her dog was barking excessively. It was then that she realized her dog, an 8-pound Pomeranian named Smokie, was raising the alarm after seeing the black mother bear and her young ones, as per NBC News.
Galante, fearing for her dog’s safety, tried to protect her pup from getting attacked. Unfortunately, the bear charged toward her when she attempted to get away, striking her on the head.
“She bites the back of my head so hard that I thought she was going to scalp me,” a distraught Galante shared.
According to Galante, the bear shifted her attention to Smokie before rushing to attack her a second time. The aggressive animal knocked her to the ground and proceeded to bite her on her left arm.
Thankfully, Galante and her pup managed to get back to the house, where she immediately contacted authorities.
Unfortunately, the vicious attack left Galante with a broken nose, injuries to her face and head, cuts in her mouth, puncture wounds on her arm, and scratches almost everywhere. As for her dog, the pup only sustained minor scratches on his back.
Galante considers it a miracle that she survived the fierce attack. “I just kept thinking, ‘I can’t believe this is happening. This can’t be happening. I’m being attacked by a bear,'” Galante stated. “I thought, ‘This is it — I’m going to die,'” she added.
The mother bear was eventually euthanized and her cubs were tranquilized before they were transported to an undisclosed location.
