The 17-year-old who shoved a bear off a wall said 'I had to do what I had to do' so she could save her dogs

• A teenager was captured on video pushing a bear off of a garden wall to protect her dogs.
• "I did not know it was a bear until right after I pushed it," 17-year-old Hailey Morinico said.
• She said she felt she had to act to save the dogs, telling ABC7: "I had to do what I had to do."

The teenager who was captured on video shoving a bear off of a garden wall to protect her dogs said she "'had to do what I had to do."

17-year-old Hailey Morinico was filmed pushing the bear in her Southern California backyard.

Watch the video here:

-ABC News (@ABC) June 1, 2021

She told ABC7: "Honestly, I did not know it was a bear until right after I pushed it. I didn't register in my head that it was a bear."

"I was like 'It's an animal and it's taking my child' and I pushed the bear."

She said she felt compelled to push the bear after it swiped at one of the dogs: "I didn't want to know what would happen if the bear hurt her or even took her, so I had to do what I had to do."

The footage was captured by security cameras, and shared by her cousin on TikTok, Insider previously reported.