Video shows deputies responding to woman after 911 call reporting bear attack
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - Authorities say a Volusia County woman and her dog were attacked by a black bear on Thursday night.
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC), the agency along with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, responded after someone called 911 saying a woman was attacked by a bear in DeBary.
Video from body cameras shows deputies responding to the scene moments after the attack. Visible lacerations could be seen on the woman's face as a deputy tended to cuts on her back.
She explained to deputies that her dog was attacked by the bear and is missing. A short while later, you can hear deputies locate three bears in a tree – a mother and presumably two cubs. A deputy said FWC officers were on their way to the scene.
The deputies responded after a 911 call reported the incident.
Caller: "A woman was being chased by a bear!" the 911 caller said.
911: "Where exactly is she right now?"
Caller: "She is trying to locate her dog who was attacked by the bear."
The woman reportedly had injuries to her hand, face and back.
"She's got rips in the back of her shirt," the caller told the dispatcher.
The woman was treated at the scene. Her injuries were not life-threatening, officials said.
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The dog was reportedly still missing at the time of the 911 call.
When deputies arrived, there was an adult female bear with yearlings in a tree nearby.
FWC bear biologists darted the adult bear in the tree and humanely killed it "per FWC policy to protect public safety."
Officials say the yearlings are old enough to survive on their own and so no attempt was made to capture them.
FOX 35's Dave Puglisi spoke with the victim on Friday. You can watch his report during FOX 35 News at 5 p.m.
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People can contact the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) if they feel threatened by a bear; observe a sick, injured, dead or orphaned bear; or to report someone who is either harming bears or intentionally feeding them.
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