Moment US teenager fights off black bear to protect her dogs
2 June 2021, 07:49
Californian girl fights off bear to protect pet dogs
This is the moment a 17-year-old girl from California fought off a wild bear unarmed to protect her pet dogs.
The TikTok video, filmed by the teenager’s cousin, shows a black bear and her two cubs trying to enter Hailey Morinico’s walled garden to possibly attack her dogs.
The teenager rushed to her dogs' aid and pushed the fully-grown bear off the wall, in a brave move she said was to “protect my kids”.
She then shepherded the pets inside to safety.
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“I live in the mountains so this is actually really normal,” she explained in a second video. “It’s summer so they always come now.”
Recounting the tale, she said she heard her dogs barking but assumed it was just at another dog.
But when she went outside to investigate the commotion she saw the black bear attacking one of her dogs, Valentina, who she described as “the baby”.
“I have to protect her,” said Ms Morinico.
The brave youngster said she didn’t even think before pushing the bear off the wall.
She sprained her finger and scraped her knee in the incident, but apart from that was unharmed.
Fellow TikTokers pointed out that both the bear and Ms Morinico were just protecting their young.
