This is the second time in just two years that the family from Muncy Creek Township, Lycoming County, have been attacked by a bear, WNEP reported.
Wife and husband Melinda and Sid Lebarron escaped uninjured this time, but their dog—coincidentally named “Bear”—was not so fortunate.
Melinda Lebarron said she let the dog out for a walk in the backyard on Saturday evening when the black bear attacked.
“The bear was going full force, and she started running. Then that’s when I seen her grab my dog, and she pinned her up on that top step,” Melinda Lebarron told WNEP.
The Lebarrons rushed into the house in order to save themselves as the dog was being attacked by the bear.
“I had to shut the door because of me and her. If that bear would have gotten in the house, it probably would have been all over for us, so I had to make a choice, the dog or us, so I slammed the door,” Sid Lebarron said.
At one point, he broke a curtain rod off the back door of the home in order to stop the bear from coming in the house.
“The bear had the dog pinned down against the step there, and that’s when I grabbed the curtain rod and was just trying to get the bear off the dog at that point,” Sid Lebarron said.
In December 2018, a bear attacked Melinda Lebarron near the couple’s home, dragging her into the woods.
She suffered serious injuries during the attack, spending more than two-and-a-half months recovering in hospital. During the previous attack, her husband was not around to help.
“I was just thankful that he was home this time. It was like a replay because it was like almost the same way it happened back in 2018,” Melinda Lebarron.
The couple believe the same black bear was responsible for both attacks.
“I’m sorry, but the second time around of this happening, there is something wrong with that bear, and we believe it was the same one that was here back in 2018, and I believe it, too.”
But Game Warden Jonathan Wyant from the Pennsylvania Game Commission said “there is no way to know,” with the available evidence suggesting it was a different bear from the first attack due to the fact that there were no cubs nearby this time.
The Commission said that they have placed a trap on a field near the couple’s home in order to try and capture the bear responsible for the attack.
They are also advising people to keep trash cans away from homes and avoid hanging bird feeders in yards so as not to attract bears.