Man (Freeper kanawa) stabs bear to death

A Waterloo man and his dog made a harrowing escape from the clutches of a vicious black bear Thursday while portaging near Wawa, Ont.

Tom Tilley, 55, killed the nearly 200-pound bear by jumping on its back and stabbing the aggressive animal with a six-inch hunting knife after his dog alerted him and distracted the bear.

"Love is a very powerful emotion and my thought right away was, 'You're not going to kill my dog,' " Tilley said yesterday.

"I really consider my dog a hero. Without that first warning I would have had the bear clamping down on my neck."

Tilley had planned on spending 12 days portaging through the area near Wawa with his American Staffordshire, Sam.

Four days into the trip, as he was making his third trip back to the water near Abbey Lake to retrieve his gear, he heard his dog growl and noticed the bear closing in on him. He said he did what he's been taught to do when a bear is close -- he starting waving his arms and slowing started backing away from the animal.

The bear moved off the trail, but a few seconds later reappeared, cutting off Tilley's escape route.

Sam, who was behind Tilley before the bear moved up the trail, was now between the bear and his owner. Instead of taking an aggressive stance, the dog stood sideways blocking the bear's route.

"The bear took a few steps down the trail and clamped its mouth on the back of my dog," Tilley said. "By attracting the bear's attention like that and distracting the bear from me it gave me the quick opportunity I needed to run around to the back of the bear, get on its back and with my knife start stabbing it."

Tilley had recently purchased the knife that would save his life after reading the story of Jacqueline Perry, the young Cambridge doctor who was killed by a bear last September.

Perry's husband attempted to fend off the animal with a Swiss Army Knife -- the only weapon he had.

"When I read the report about her death, it really hit home to me that these things are possible," Tilley said.

"I owe her husband a real debt of gratitude because if I hadn't heard her story and got that knife, I wouldn't be telling this story."

After making sure the animal was dead, Tilley realized he had suffered a wound to his hand and Sam had two puncture marks on his back. He needed to get help, but was a two-day portage away from civilization.

Dragging his canoe across the short portage, Tilley paddled for about an hour before he came across a pair of Americans who happened to have a satellite phone.

They called for help and two hours later, a cargo plane arrived to take Tilley back to Wawa for medical attention.

News of his feat passed quickly through the small community, with a population of just over 3,000.

"He had a lot of cojones to do what he did," said Brenda Grundt, who operates the local news site Wawa-news.com and drove Tilley two hours back to where he'd left his van after the incident.

"It's pretty amazing. Here's a guy that wouldn't be here if he hadn't happened to have a knife on him."

As for Tilley, it wasn't until he was back in his van alone with Sam that he took in the gravity of the situation.

"I just thanked God I was alive and that my dog was alive and cried a bit, but they were tears of thanks and relief," he said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources has sent the bear's body to Guelph and Ottawa for testing.

"It's very unusual for a bear to attack a person (and) pretty amazing this gentleman was able to kill it just with a knife," said Jolanta Kowalski, spokes-person for the ministry.

Because Wawa doesn't have a veterinarian's office and a specialist wasn't available to treat his hand, Tilley decided to push through and make the long journey home that night.

Back in Waterloo, news of his experience trickled back to amazed friends and family. Despite the danger, Tilley said the incident hasn't erased his love of the outdoors.

"My daughter says I'm not allowed to go up there anymore," he said with a laugh. " But I left my canoe there knowing I'll have to go back to get it."

>Would-be dog banners should rightly reflect upon both the vile company which their views put them in & on the fundamental conservative tenets of individual responsibility & personal accountability which they're quite plainly going against.<

From the American Dog Owners Association:

http://www.adoa.org/index.php#news

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ENGLEWOOD, NJ - July 24, 2006 The American Dog Owners Association (ADOA) and two of its members, Natalie Wells and Mia Rodriguez, who reside in Englewood, New Jersey, filed suit in New Jersey Superior Court last week to challenge the city's aggressive dog ordinance banning specific breeds as a direct violation of state law, which explicitly prohibits breed discrimination. The American Dog Owners Association, the country's largest independent dog owner's organization, asserts that the City of Englewood, New Jersey has failed to provide its residents equal protection under the law by denying the residents' applications to license their dogs and has subjected them to harassment.

'New Jersey has one of the strongest dangerous dog laws in the country, and we'd like to see the City Of Englewood comply with state law. The City of Englewood has a duty to protect the public health and safety of all of its citizens, as well as protect the rights of responsible dog owners, regardless of breed', said Maureen Hill-Hauch, ADOA's Executive Director.

Ms. Hill-Hauch noted that breed bans and other breed-specific measures are strongly opposed by all major animal welfare and veterinary medical organizations, as well as the Center For Disease Control, as being ineffective against the prevention of dog bites or attacks. 'Strong dangerous dog laws are based on facts, not media hype. To keep the public safe, we need real solutions, like the New Jersey Vicious and Potentially Dangerous Dog Act, not empty laws'.

The New Jersey Vicious and Potentially Dangerous Dog Act, N.J. S.A. S.S.4:19-36, explicitly prohibits breed discrimination, stating, 'any law, ordinance, or regulation concerning vicious or potentially dangerous dogs, any specific breed of dog or any other type of dog inconsistent with this act enacted by any municipality, county or county board of health'.

The City of Englewood's Ordinance N.99-66 violates N.J.S.A.S.S 4:19-26 by defining the following breeds as aggressive: Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Rottweilers, or 'any dogs of mixed breed which has the appearance or characteristics of being predominately of the breeds', and bans them from being kept within the City of Englewood.

Flora Edwards, counsel for the Plaintiffs, told the court that under the city's illegal breed-specific ordinance, even Rufus, this year's winner of Best In Show at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden, would be unwelcome in the City of Englewood, and his owners would run the risk of having the world�s top dog seized and impounded. Rufus, a Colored Bull Terrier, has been given the keys to a number of cities in New Jersey and throughout the country, and resides with his owners in Holmdel, New Jersey. On Thursday, July 20, the Plaintiffs, the American Dog Owner's Association, Natalie Wells and Mia Rodriguez, were granted a temporary restraining order by the Honorable Jonathan Harris in Bergen Country Superior Court against the City of Englewood, preventing the city from seizing or impounding the Plaintiff's dogs until the case can be heard. A trial date has been set for early August.

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