The president of a nature and environment group in Elliot Lake believes an incident where a bear bit and clawed two hikers in Sudbury this week was preventable. Jim Johnston of Friends of Algoma East says if the hikers had their dog on a leash, the bear likely would not have attacked. Johnston says the loose dog entered the bear’s territory which put the bear in fight and not flight mode. Johnston says the last four incidents in Ontario where people were hurt by bears all involved dogs being off their leashes. He also says that a study examining 92 people over 45 years who were hurt by a bear found well over half of them had their dogs off its leash. The advice from Johnston is when in wooded areas, make sure your dog is on a leash.
(Written By: Rocco Frangione)
