A bear attack survivor thinks her dog could have saved her life by distracting the beast that attacked her Tuesday night.
The victim, Lee Ann Galante, had stepped out of her house to walk her pet dog, Smokie, when the wild beast pushed her down from behind.
Bear attacks woman from behind
The incident reportedly occurred Tuesday night around 8:30 P.M when Lee took her dog for a walk in the backyard along Bellfield Drive in Butler Township.
She said the animal jumped over the fence and pushed her to the ground. It got Lee by the back of the head before “pulling so hard” that she thought she was going to get “scalped.”
“It was very terrifying. I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it. I couldn’t believe this was happening,” she said as she recollected the scary incident.
She’s sustained non-life-threatening injuries with a “fair amount” of puncture wounds on the back of her neck and arms.
Lee suffered lacerations to her scalp and broke her nose. She was reportedly taken to Butler Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Survivor thinks her dog distracted the wild animal
Lee thinks her dog distracted the bear when it was attacking her. The bear kept looking at Smokie and when it turned around, both the dog and its owner were able to run inside their house.
The woman thought there was no escape when the bear set its eyes on her after pushing her from behind. She’s lucky to have survived it.
The authorities told CBS News that Game Commission officers were notified about the attack and they found a mother bear along with three cubs in a tree nearby. It isn’t known if it was the same bear that attacked Lee.
The mother bear was euthanized as she became aggressive. The cubs were taken away after being tranquilized. If the cubs aren’t euthanized for “the safety of the public”, they will be tagged and transferred to a remote land in the Allegheny National Forest.
But the authorities are reportedly leaning towards euthanizing all three cubs they found in the tree as they aren’t sure which one of them attacked the woman.
Wildlife Regional Director, Jesse Bish, said the best way to evade a bear is by not running from them, but instead making loud noises to scare them away.
“If you run, that would potentially cause the bear to go into a chase mode rather than be scared and run away from you,” he noted.
