VERNON – A North Okanagan dog made an emergency trip to the vet last month after a close encounter with a bear. It’s unusual for bears to attack dogs at any time, and at this time of year most bears are still hibernating.
It happened on the outskirts of Vernon near Tillicum road on February 20. The conservation officer who got the call says two dogs went down into a ravine. The owner heard a yelp and when she called the dogs, one came back injured. She looked into the ravine and saw a bear running away.
“Unfortunately, no one saw the incident, but bears are usually in their dens this time of year and for the bear to come out of their den it has to be some reason,” says conservation officer Mike Richardson.
“We are thinking the dog must have disturbed the bear in the den and the bear came out of its den and unfortunately injured the dog.”
It’s been almost two weeks since 12-year-old Lucky, a coonhound-cross, had that run-in. He is now well on his way to recovery but his injuries were not trivial.
It’s an unusual incident. Richardson says bears typically don’t go after dogs, and they usually don’t get reports of bear encounters until the end of March.
“Bears will usually run from dogs most of the time, but the odd time if the bear is provoked and the dog gets too close, the bear may swipe out,” says Richardson.
“I think that is what happened in this case.”
Lucky needed surgery and stitches. But his vet knows it could have been much worse if the cuts had been deeper.
“He is very lucky. He sure stood up to his name,” says Frayn.
Comments