Man Kills Attacking Bear

In the Wawa New is this article with picture of Tom and Sam. Check out the orange button Tom is wearing. It's the 'My Ontario Includes Pit Bulls' that is purchased to support the legal fund.

Thankfully for the both of them that Sam wasn't muzzled at the time or both of them would have been dead and bear food.

Man Kills Attacking Bear


Tom Tilley from the Kitchener/Waterloo area is a very lucky man today, and so is his dog, Sam after a bear attacked the pair yesterday, Thursday, July 20th.

While on a portage to Abby Lake, Tom turned and looked behind him to see a black bear dogging their footsteps. Brandishing a saw and making noises, Tom attempted to scare off the bear. The bear then stepped off the trail and disappeared into the bush. A few minutes later it appeared in front of the pair, this time advancing closer and closer. When the bear attacked Sam, Tom retaliated, and in the ensuing struggle, killed the bear. Both were injured, and Tom being unable to carry the canoe, dragged it the length of the portage, loading Sam and went for help. Seeing another boat, Tom was able to get help from several campers in a cottage on Abby Lake. These men had a satellite phone, and used it to contact Kelly at Hawk Air. Fortunately Kelly was only ten miles away at another remote lodge, and came to ferry Tom and Sam to Hawk Junction. From there, Kelly drove them to the Lady Dunn Health Center to have his wounds treated.

Fortunately Tom only had a few gashes to his hand, and thumb; whereas Sam, his dog had a couple of punctures and slashes to his back. After being ferried back to Missanabie to pick up his van, Tom headed south for further medical attention for both Sam and himself.

When talking about his ordeal, Tom remembered that last year a bear had attacked and killed 30-year-old Jacqueline Perry. Her husband Mark Jordan used a Swiss Army knife to stab the bear a few times during the attack. That incident prompted him to look into various protection methods: bear spray, bear bangers, finally deciding on carrying a hunting knife. That appeared to have been the right decision, as Tom used it to stab the bear a number of times before it died.

Tom was unsure if there was any reason for the bear's behaviour, and never even looked to see if it was a male or female. His only concern at the time was his dog's injuries and his own.