A Connecticut woman fought off a 200-pound black bear early Wednesday morning that was chasing her dog through multiple yards and nearly into her house.
Sharon Flannery of West Hartford, Conn. opened her porch door at approximately 7:30 a.m. Wednesday when she saw her Jack Russell Terrier, Maggie, being pursued first through her neighbor's yard and then through her yard by a female black bear, NBC Connecticut reported.
"Maggie came running out of the bushes, over the fountain and 'b-lined' it into the house," Flannery said. "It was definitely the scariest thing that happened to me. Before I even had time to process it, [there] was a bear. It was right in front of me."
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Moments after her dog ran through her door, Flannery said the bear tried to force her way inside her home.
"The bear was right there, then it was here and then it was right in front of me," Flannery said pointing to her porch. "I screamed and I yelled. It started poking its head in so I kicked it."
In her attempt to protect her dog by kicking the bear in the face, Flannery suffered a puncture wound and several scratches to her right calf.
"I didn't notice there was blood on my ankle until I started yelling about the bear almost coming into the house," Flannery recalled. "I looked down and said 'Oh my God, a bear bit me."
The female black bear, which at the time was being followed by her two cubs, then retreated to a nearby yard and climbed up a tree.
Flannery proceeded to call police, which arrived with officers from the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Authorities then tranquilized the bear and her cubs.
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The cubs, which were deemed to be old enough to survive on their own, were later released into another area. The mother bear was euthanized, according to state officials, and subsequently tested for rabies as a precaution, NBC Connecticut reports.
"The gravity of this incident is very unusual," Susan Whalen, of the D.E.E.P., said.
After being treated for the minor injuries she sustained during the bear encounter, Flannery was released from a medical facility.
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