Man kills bear to save his dog — and now he will be charged, Connecticut officials say
A Connecticut man says he was trying to protect his dog when he shot and accidentally killed a mother black bear outside of his home earlier this week, but he’s still facing legal trouble for pulling the trigger, outlets report.
Environmental conservation officers arrested William O’Connor, 26, and charged him with the illegal taking of a black bear, The Register Citizen reported.
O’Connor told authorities he let his dog outside around 5 p.m. Tuesday. The dog noticed a mother bear and cubs in the woods near the house and ran over to them, barking.
The two cubs retreated up a tree for safety, while their mother dealt with the danger, a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesman told the Register Citizen.
“The bear stood her ground and started making loud noises, believing her cubs were threatened.”
Scared for his dog’s safety, O’Connor grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and fired in the bear’s direction, intending to scare it off without hurting it, WFSB reported. But a round did hit.
When conservation officers arrived, they found the bear had wandered 30 yards into a neighbor’s driveway, where it died, the station reported.
The bear ultimately died of a liver wound, a necropsy determined Thursday, the Republican-American reported.
The dog and the two cubs, which officials said are old enough to survive on their own, were unharmed.
Under Connecticut law, it is illegal to kill a bear except in special circumstances such as if it’s posing a threat to human life, the outlet reported.
O’Connor could face 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.
