A Man Was Asked Why He Tackled The Bear That Was Attacking His Dog, His Answer: "I Love That Dog"

Star Tribune- In a drama Davy Crockett would be proud to boast about, a 68-year-old man living deep in Minnesota’s northwoods wrestled an angry bear off his little dog. Bill Vagts and Darla, his 30-pound Corgi, survived their bite wounds from the black bear, which then lumbered down the road near McDougal Lake and attacked two other men Tuesday morning. A Lake County sheriff’s deputy tracked the animal and fatally shot it soon after, ending the rare bear attack at a time when the animals are supposed to be heeding nature’s demand and hibernating. Vagts had just let Darla out of her pen to “let her run around” and the bear “pounces on her and has her down on her back in two seconds,” Vagts recalled Wednesday. “He had his jaws on her stomach and her throat. … Her eyes were as big as saucers.” Vagts didn’t hesitate. “I run toward the bear on his right and grab the bear around the neck with both of my arms and pulled him up off my dog.”

“I love that dog. They are like family.” 

Okay fair enough. That’s the right answer. Honestly that’s a pretty dumb question from whoever asked it. Why would anyone tackle a giant bear that was attacking their dog? Hmmmmmm. Gee I wonder. Because that’s just what you do as a dog owner. You love your dog and they are like family. Done and done. You know why? Cause the dog would do the same for you. No doubt in my mind that dog would’ve attacked the bear had the roles been reversed. Not to mention it would’ve been a shocking story if the guy hadn’t done anything to protect his pup. We’d all hate this guy if he had simply let his dog get massacred by a bear. Luckily that didn’t happen. My guess is the bear immediately regretted his decision when he saw the rage in the eyes of Bill Vagts upon attacking that corgi.

I will say, the picture of the guy and his dog is really really funny. Not sure why but I wasn’t expecting him to own a little corgi. I just wasn’t. I expected a rugged, camouflage-wearing, bear-tackling outdoorsman to own a Great Dane or an English Mastiff or a Newfoundland. Nope. A corgi. That adds to the story in the best way. He knew his little corgi couldn’t handle a giant bear. So he had no choice but to go Bobby Boucher on that wild animal.