A couple’s beloved French bulldog died saving its owners from a bear as the wild animal attacked them in the backyard of their rural Northern California home.
Jeff and Mallory Wilson were in their home in Trinity County Saturday when their dog, Cassie, barked just once. The late-night disturbance prompted Jeff to go outside and check the backyard.
As soon as he opened the door, Cassie stepped off the deck, and a cinnamon bear emerged from behind the patio furniture. The bear then attacked and knocked Jeff to the floor.
Unaware of the deadly attack, Mallory woke up to loud noises and went outside to check. The bear then attacked her, leaving her with grave injuries to her face and body.
At some point during the attack, the bear grabbed Cassie with its mouth and started to run away. Mallory threw a chair at the bear, causing it to drop Cassie. Jeff then shoved a patio heater into the bear, and it finally ran off.
The couple believes the bear panicked after getting cornered between the house’s small fence and open gate. “I think the bear was startled by us just as much as we were startled by it,” Jeff told Redheaded Blackbelt in an interview.
The couple rushed Cassie into emergency surgery to treat multiple bite wounds and deep cuts along her spine. When she started walking and drinking water on her own two days later, they felt a surge of hope for her recovery. Tragically, she died the very next morning.
According to a GoFundMe page set up by the couple’s friend of 20 years, Rachel Moscon, Jeff suffered two broken ribs and numerous bite and claw wounds, while Mallory sustained serious injuries to her head and face, a broken hand, and additional bite and puncture wounds.
“Cassie threw herself between Jeff and the bear in an effort to protect him,” Moscon said.
She added that the 7.5-year-old bulldog was a beloved member of the Wilson family, and “in the moment Jeff needed her most, this little dog courageously put herself between him and a bear.”
“She was never meant to be a hero, she was not our guard dog. She was just our sweet indoor lap baby,” the dog’s owner, Mallory told Redheaded Blackbelt.
The couple chose to live in rural Northern California to be closer to nature and its wildlife and is shattered by the attack.
“This was an unprovoked and extraordinarily unusual encounter that none of us could have anticipated. We can grieve Cassie and be devastated by what happened while still respecting the wild animals that belong in these places.” the couple said, reported KRON4.
