Daily Sitka Sentinel

Homeowner Shoots Bear Attacking Dog

By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER
Sentinel Staff Writer
    A homeowner near Harbor Mountain Road fatally shot a brown bear early this morning that was trying to kill his dog, officials said.
    “It was just bad timing,” said Alaska Department of Fish and Game area wildlife biologist Steve Bethune. “The homeowner let their dog out in the morning and there happened to be a bear on the premise.”

Cadets from the Alaska Department of Public Safety Training Academy help haul a dead bear out of the woods near Bahovec Court this afternoon. A Bahovec Court resident shot the bear as it chased his dog near his home this morning. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

    The dog, a blue heeler, is OK, Bethune said.
    Sitka police responded to a call at 5:32 a.m. reporting gunshots on Bahovec Court near Harbor Mountain Road.
    Police patrolled the area, and checked the Benchlands for hikers, but saw no signs of a bear. Shortly afterward, the call came in from the man who had shot the bear.
    Alaska Wildlife Trooper Kyle Ferguson said the bear had emerged from the woods and started chasing the dog, trying to catch it.
    Bethune said the dog was in distress.
    He said the owner “heard the dog give a howl and had to shoot the bear in defense of the dog.”
    After it was shot the bear ran about a hundred yards, over a hill and into the creek toward the Channel Club, the police report says.
    “It ran into a ravine behind his house,” Bethune said.
    Once the bear was extracted this afternoon it was to be skinned and the hide sent to Anchorage for the Fish and Game Hide and Horn Auction, which happens in February during Fur Rendezvous, Bethune said.
    As for the meat, he said, “We’ll contact the raptor center to see if they want any of it. If not, we’ll dispose of it.”
    “It’s hard to find people who want bear meat.”
    Bethune said the resident’s action was justifiable as defense of life and property, allowed under state regulation.
    The Fish and Game website explains the regulation:
    “You may kill a bear in defense of your life or property if you did not provoke an attack or cause a problem by negligently leaving human or pet food or garbage in a manner that attracts bears and if you have done everything else you can to protect your life and property.”
    “Property” includes pets, the regulation says.
    Garbage was not a problem in this incident, Bethune said.
    “The property was very clean,  it just abuts the hillside near the Kramer Benchlands,” he said. “It’s a bear corridor.”
    Ferguson said the homeowner acted appropriately given the circumstances.
    “It was unavoidable,” he said. “The person wasn’t doing anything that really could have prevented it. He was going about his normal daily routine. It’s normal to let the dog out in the backyard.”