one floridian Last month, he was bitten in the stomach by a black bear cub while trying to break up a fight between the wild animal and his beloved dog.

Blake Sprout said his dog was chasing the cub after it was released from his home in Volusia County around midnight on Dec. 20, when the cub strayed from his The mother is close to two other cubs. Fox 35 Orlando the report said.

“It roared and charged, and then bit me in the stomach,” Sprout told Bear News.

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Blake Sprout was attacked by a black bear cub last month while trying to protect his dog. (WOFL)

this Dog, a Pomeranian named Karenwas attacked first, he said.

“There were three bears there, and my dog ​​saw them and ran right up to them,” he said.

A neighbor captured the attack on video, which showed Sprout running into the yard to intervene as the bear held Karen in its mouth.

“I ran up to her and kicked her in the chest and made her fall,” Sprout explained.

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Blake Sprout had bruises on his abdomen from a bear bite. (WOFL)

Sprout said he intervened when Karen was attacked because she was “part of the family.”

“I couldn’t sit there and watch her die. My kids loved her,” he said. “I can’t just tell them on Christmas Day, ‘Our dog is missing.'”

The bears were later captured and relocated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Blake Sprout holds his dog Karen after being attacked by a bear cub. (WOFL)

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“FWC bear managers set traps on the property and successfully captured three cubs and an adult female, then relocated the family,” the agency said in a statement to the media.

In Florida, it’s legal to shoot someone to kill a bear For self-defense or to protect certain property.