Man kills bear that attacked his dogs

Two cubs now in care of Española vet

Two bear cubs are under the care of an Española veterinarian after a Cloudcroft man shot and killed their mother as she attacked his dogs.

Department of Game and Fish conservation officer Marcelino Peralta said that the man’s wife went outside Thursday to see what her dogs were barking at and saw two bear cubs on her patio.

“The startled cubs bawled out for their mother, who then came running around the corner,” Game and Fish spokesman Karl Moffatt said in a news release.

As the woman ran into her home, her dogs slipped outside. When the bear started fighting with the two small dogs, the woman tried unsuccessfully to scare her away.

The man fired one shot from his .22 caliber pistol.

The mother bear ran away, but collapsed nearby, “dead from an apparent gunshot wound,” according to the news release.

One of her cubs was found in a tree and the second was found near the home.

They are now being cared for by Dr. Kathleen Ramsay, who specializes in rehabilitating wildlife.

Ramsay is also caring for the two bear cubs whose mother was euthanized after attacking a marathon runner near Los Alamos last month. The cost to rehabilitate a cub for future release is about $6,000, according to Game and Fish.

Peralta said the Cloudcroft homeowners kept their yard clean and free of bear attractants, such as bird feeders, compost piles and barbecue grills. He noted that the home is located in a rural area bordered by forest land.

“This is a very unfortunate incident,” Peralta said. “The homeowner reacted in defense of his dogs.”