AND man from florida was bitten in the stomach by a black bear cub last month while trying to break up a fight between the wild animal and his family’s beloved dog.
Blake Sprout said his dog was hunting the bear, which was near its mother and two other cubs, after he let the dog out of his Volusia County home around midnight on Dec. 20. FOX 35 Orlando reported.
“He growled and charged and just latched onto my stomach,” Sprout told the news outlet about the bear.
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Blake Sprout was attacked by a black bear cub last month while trying to defend his dog. (WOFL)
The a dog, a Pomeranian named Karenhe was attacked first, he said.
There were three bears, and my dogs saw them and ran straight for them, he said.
A neighbor captured the attack on video, which shows Sprout running into the yard to intervene while the bear had Karen in its mouth.
“I ran up to her and punched her in the chest to drop her,” Sprout explained.
Blake Sprout shows off a bear bite bruise on her stomach. (WOFL)
Sprout said he intervened when Karen was attacked because he was “part of the family.”
“I couldn’t just sit and watch her die. My kids love her,” he said. “I couldn’t just tell them at Christmas, ‘Our dog is gone’.”
The bears were later captured and relocated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
Blake Sprout holds her dog Karen after being attacked by a young bear. (WOFL)
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“FWC bear management personnel set traps on the property and successfully captured three cubs and an adult bear, then relocated the family group,” the agency said in a statement to the branch.
It’s legal to shoot and kill in Florida bear in self-defense or to defend certain property.
