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California man punched a 350-pound bear in the face after it began attacking his dog Buddy. - Kaleb Benham rescued his pitbull from the bear attack outside their home in Grass Valley, California the day before Thanksgiving.
- "I just ran down there, plowed into the bear, tackled it and grabbed it by the throat and started hitting it in the face and the eye until it let go," he told CBS Sacramento.
- Both Benham and Buddy spent Thanksgiving resting at home, but the bear has returned to their house several times since.
A man risked his life to save his dog from a bear attack by punching it in the face repeatedly until it let go.
Kaleb Benham was at home in Grass Valley, California, the day before Thanksgiving when he heard a growl outside and saw the 350-pound black bear attacking his dog.
He looked "about 75-100 feet down" to where the bear was dragging his 90-pound pitbull Buddy along and had the dog's head in his mouth.
Benham immediately sprang into action. "Honestly, the only thing I could think of was 'save my baby,'" he told CBS Sacramento.
"I just ran down there, plowed into the bear, tackled it and grabbed it by the throat and started hitting it in the face and the eye until it let go," he said.
—Anna Giles (@AnnaGilesTV) December 4, 2020
But when Benham tried to find urgent medical help for Buddy's head injuries, he discovered his nearest vet had been closed due to a positive COVID-19 case.
Luckily, a nearby veterinary hospital was ready to take Buddy into emergency surgery to insert staples, stitches, and a tube to drain fluid from his head. Benham said he spent three-and-a-half to four hours outside watching over his beloved rescue dog.
Benham told CBS Sacramento that he and Buddy spent Thanksgiving recuperating at home, but the bear has returned several times since.
But he has no regrets for standing up to the bear. "If it was your kid, what would you do? That's my kid. I would die for my dog," he said.
It's not the only dramatic pet rescue that's taken place in recent weeks. In late November, a Florida retiree jumped into a pond to wrestle his 3-month-old puppy from the jaws of an alligator.
Richard Wilbanks, 74, leaped into his backyard pond to save his Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Gunner, saying that instinct took over as he did so. Gunner was left with a puncture wound to his stomach, while Wilbanks' hands were left "chewed up," but both were otherwise fine.
- Read more:
- A retired man leaped into a pond and wrestled his puppy from the jaws of an alligator, and the dramatic incident was captured on camera
- A wedding photographer was 'beyond scared' when a bear crashed the bride and groom's photoshoot
- What to do - and what not to do - if you're attacked by a bear
- A 21-year-old woman who was filmed feeding a black bear in Tennessee is facing 6 months in jail