Family felt scared seeing a hungry bear outside their door. Right then, their half-blind dog arrived — and won the fight

The silence of a peaceful evening in rural New Mexico was shattered by the sounds of a violent struggle that no one in the Martinez household expected to hear. A famished bear, fresh out of hibernation, set eyes on the family's livestock. However, as he stepped closer to the 60 or so chickens that Denise Martinez houses on her property, he came face to face with Honey — the family's 12-year-old, half-blind veteran dog, who usually runs away from a vacuum cleaner but in this instance became the unlikely hero, as per Española Humane's post on Facebook from March 28.

Honey was recorded in the security camera audio, having it out with the bear. Despite her being half-blinded from a previous encounter with a porcupine, the veteran dog stood her ground and miraculously managed to ward off the intruder. However, this victory didn't come without a cost. In the aftermath of her battle with the bear, Honey suffered severe injuries, which only came to light the next morning when Denise and her daughter, Leanne Martinez, noticed that Honey didn't show up for breakfast. 

Leanne was the one to find her first, as she fell under the bear's attacks, suffering deep punctures, bruising, and partial flaying around the head and neck. "The bear just [ripped off] the skin of her neck from below the collar to right under her chin," Denise told The Guardian. "It was hard to look at — and it did not look like something Honey would be able to overcome." They also thought so because Denise didn't have enough funds to save her beloved warrior. Thankfully, it was then that Española Humane stepped in and provided Honey a low-cost treatment at her newly opened animal clinic.

"She is our little savior—she’s always been protective that way. She risked her life to save not just the coop, but her family, from that bear," Denise said. Since then, the bear slayer has undergone surgery to piece her back together as well as endured bandage changes every other day and taken her medications like a champ. Thanking Española Humane, Denise wrote in the comments, "The care, compassion, and support they’ve given through her recovery and dressing changes made the impossible possible for us. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to afford the care she needed. They truly gave our Honey a second chance and we will never forget it."

Honey is now back home, where she continues to live her best life alongside her friends. This includes Velma, who was adopted from Española Humane's shelter, and Zoe, who also had a close call with a bear not too long ago. Zoe's mention also goes to show that tussles between bears and dogs, especially in rural areas, are more frequent than we think. In fact, according to Bearwise, dogs were involved in more than half of all reported incidents between people and black bears between 2010 and 2015. What's more alarming is that around 46% of those dogs were injured or killed. So, it's truly a miracle that both Honey and Zoe survived. 

People were lauding Honey and the shelter for their incredible efforts to heal her. Fran Nicholson wrote, "That bear got a taste of Honey, but didn't know what he was getting into! Good girl, Honey! Get well soon!" Tana Reed added, "And of course, she’s a heeler. They all think they are 10 feet tall and bulletproof. And apparently she is!!"

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