West Hartford resident Sharon Flannery said that if ever again confronted by a bear chasing one of her dogs, she would probably kick at it to keep it from getting into the house.
That's exactly what Flannery did early Wednesday morning when a female bear chased her one-year-old Irish Jack, Maggie, toward the back door of her Avondale Rd. home.
"Oh my God, absolutely," Flannery said when asked what she would do if once again confronted with a bear that about to chase her dog into the house. "There was no way that bear was coming into my house. It was instinctual and I would absolutely do it again," she said.
Flannery said that the bear, "which seemed huge at the time," got close enough for her to kick at it. She believes that the half-inch-long puncture wound was caused by kicking the bear's tooth, and does not think the animal actually but down on her leg. She also received a scratch on her leg from the bear, she said.
Flannery's cuts were treated at a walk-in clinic, where she received a tetanus shot and intravenous antibiotics. She was also put on a 7-day course of antibiotics.
The female bear, which weighed 200 pounds, was euthanized by DEEP officials. Its two cubs were determined to be old enough to survive on their own, and were relocated.
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