another attack...welcome to alaska

[cleofus1]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7073669p-6978567c.html


A Kasilof couple was attacked by a brown bear Sunday afternoon while walking their two dogs on a trail near Skilak Lake Loop Road, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Colleen Sinnott, 50, suffered serious injuries to her head, chest and side and was taken to Central Peninsula General Hospital, troopers said in a statement. Her husband, John Poljacik, 56, suffered some scratches to his chest and declined treatment.

Sinnott, a special services teacher at Tustumena Elementary School in Kasilof, remained at the hospital Monday and declined a request for an interview, a spokeswoman said.

Sinnott and Poljacik, an architect, had parked at a pullout and were walking their two 7-month-old Newfoundland puppies when they spied a brown bear in the distance and turned back, trooper Terrence Shanigan told the Peninsula Clarion.

[cleofus1]

1. snip

"With their dogs on leashes, they were only about 100 yards from their vehicle when Sinnott glimpsed what she thought was a moose charging from the alders, according to Shanigan.

A brown bear slammed into her.

Sinnott went down, unable to grab her pepper spray in time, then crouched behind a tree. Poljacik dashed for the vehicle to get his canister of spray, but the bear chased him, scratching his back and chest.

The man scared the bear off without using the spray.

Sinnott told Shanigan that the whole thing was "just a flash," the Clarion reported. "It was over in 20 seconds."

In the commotion, the two puppies bolted into the forest. Sinnott told her husband that he should go find the dogs while she went to get help. Neither of them realized the seriousness of her injuries at the time, troopers said later.

Before she underwent surgery on Sunday night, Sinnott asked a nurse to phone Tustemena school principal John Halverson to let him know he needed to call in a substitute teacher for her small class of special needs students."


now that's dedication!

[knowbody0]

2. just another day in the great northwest!

did they find the pups?

[cleofus1]

3. this was in today's paper

so no follow up on the pups yet...i hope they find them!