A black bear, probably attracted by a bird feeder, came onto the porch of a house in the US state of Connecticut and bit the owner after his dog chased him through the yard, and then attacked the dog as well, local officials said today.
Both the owner and the dog are recovering from the attack today, and the bear escaped into the forest.
The incident happened on Saturday in the small town of Litchfield in the west of Connecticut, after a guard dog spotted the bear while it was sniffing the bird feeder on the porch of the house, said the Institute for the Protection of the Natural Environment of that state in the northeast of the USA.
The dog chased the bear, and the bear then attacked the dog and bit its 65-year-old owner when he tried to defend his pet.
The owner is being treated at the hospital, and his dog at the vet. Officials say they have no information on the dog's health.
This is not the first case of bear attacks on people in Connecticut. In April of this year, a 74-year-old woman was attacked while walking her dog on the outskirts of Hartford.
Last year there were two attacks, including one in which a bear tore a 10-year-old boy apart in the yard of a house.
During the last year in Connecticut, there were 67 reports of bears entering people's homes, which is a record, breaking the one from 2020 when there were 45 such cases.
This year, the Connecticut State Assembly adopted a law according to which it is allowed to kill a bear if a person feels threatened by this animal, or if he is defending himself, a family member or a pet from a bear.
After the latest attack, the National Nature Conservancy called on the public to be cautious during the open celebrations of the US Independence Day holiday, which falls on the 4th of July.
They were also urged to remove bird feeders, as they, as well as garbage cans, were found to be among the causes of bears among humans and bear attacks on humans.
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