Bear runs into Pennsylvania home, attacks couple inside
Daniel Lovering
Reuters US Online Report Domestic News
Oct 03, 2011 14:59 EDT
PITTSBURGH (Reuters) – A black bear chased a dog into a central Pennsylvania house on Monday, attacking and injuring a couple who lived there, an official said.
The bear entered the house in Oliver Township, Perry County, “hot on the tracks” of the dog, which had been let out early this morning, said Jerry Feaser, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
An unidentified man who lived there tried to intercede and was bitten and scratched by the bear, he said. A woman then tried to get the bear away from him, but the animal turned on her and injured her too, Feaser said.
The two were taken to a hospital in Harrisburg. Further details about their injuries were not immediately available.
A Game Commission officer was searching the area around the house and planned to lay a trap, he said. Once captured, the animal may either be relocated or killed if it appears rabid.
“Our suspicion — and I emphasize suspicion — is that this is most likely a female bear that had cubs in the area” and saw the dog as a threat, Feaser said.
Another possibility, he said, was that the bear had rabies, which “makes mammals do strange things.”
The incident was highly unusual. In all other reports of bears entering houses in Pennsylvania, the animal was searching for food, Feaser said.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)
Source: Reuters US Online Report Domestic News
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