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There aren’t many animals that have a natural edge when they find themselves facing off against a bear. You might not think a 12-year-old dog that’s blind in one eye would stand a chance against one, but one canine in New Mexico that fits that description earned some rightful praise after surviving a harrowing ordeal to protect the people and animals she lives with.
New Mexico is home to a number of potentially dangerous animals you typically want to avoid crossing paths with. That includes a variety of venomous snakes, scorpions, and spiders as well as some more sizeable threats like cougars and a growing population of black bears within its borders.
Those bears have managed to cause some issues due to relatively isolated incidents where they’ve attempted to infiltrate a home in search of some food, including one that transpired in 2001 that marked the only recorded human fatality linked to an attack in the history of the state.
It’s slightly less rare for those bears to go after livestock and domesticated animals while trying to land a meal, and one Very Good Dog is recovering from the injuries she sustained while preventing one from doing exactly that.
A dog named Honey stepped up to protect her family and the animals she lives with from a bear that invaded their property in New Mexico
According to KOB, a dog named Honey is just one of the many animals that reside on a plot of land that Denise Martinez and the rest of her family own in Cordova, which is also home to a couple of horses and around 60 chickens.
The home is situated north of Santa Fe and in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. That range is home to a sizeable population of black bears, which includes the one that wandered onto the Martinezes’ property on the evening of March 3rd.
Honey, who is 12 years old and was previously blinded in one eye after an ill-fated encounter with a porcupine, may have been at a disadvantage in the size department, but that didn’t stop her from jumping in a successful attempt to ward off the bear that had recently emerged from hibernation and had its eyes set on the chicken coops.
Unfortunately, she was left much worse for wear, as she was discovered lying in the family’s driveway the following morning nursing serious injuries to her neck and face. They were unable to afford the steep bill that would have come with an emergency visit to the vet, but they were thankfully able to take advantage of the services of Española Humane, the nonprofit shelter where she was rushed to for care.
Honey, who has since been dubbed the “Bear Slayer” by her owners, still has some work to do before she’s fully recovered, but she’s spent the past few weeks rehabilitating after the folks at Española Humane stepped up to provide her with some affordable treatment.
Well done, Honey. Well done.