A woman and her dog encountered a bear and her cubs on a trail in Simsbury near Talcott Mountain. The dog escaped alive because of her owner’s heroic actions.
SIMSBURY, Conn. — Kayleigh Roy and her dog Phoenix are regulars on a hiking trail in Simsbury near Talcott Mountain.
They’re best friends through and through, but on June 30, a bear almost tore the two apart.
“I was just like this can’t be our last memory together,” said Roy.
In the 18 years that Roy has lived in Connecticut, she’d never seen a bear in person. That is until almost two weeks ago when her dog ran into a mother bear and her two cubs.
“[Phoenix] ran down a little bit, just the way she was standing I was like ‘what is she staring at like that?'” said Roy. “Normally, a deer she would just go after. I look up and there’s a mother bear and two cubs.”
Roy says at first the cubs were friendly with her dog, but the mother bear had other plans.
“They started getting into a fight and tussling,” said Roy. “Both of them were standing up on their legs, but the bear ended up getting the upper hand. She started dragging my dog into the woods by her neck, and [Phoenix] was just in complete shock; she wasn’t even moving.”
Fearing that she was about to lose her best friend, Roy became resourceful to fend off the bear.
“The real star of the show is my Nalgene water bottle,” said Roy. “I started hitting the bear in the face with my water bottle. The bear sat up, and I was just losing my mind, flailing my arms, and she backed away to go to her cubs.”
Roy saved Phoenix’s life, but there was more that needed to be done. She took her dog to the VCA Veterinary Specialist of Connecticut, who helped Phoenix heal to the point where she is now.
“She had a tear in her neck,” said Roy. “She has sutures and she’s just so badly bruised. She can’t really walk up and down stairs anymore, but they saved her and did such a good job.”
Roy started a GoFundMe to help with Phoenix’ recovery, and after a week she had over 100 donations.
“I could just cry,” said Roy. “To receive that from strangers. I’m so incredibly grateful. To feel held by a stranger that you may never meet is just amazing.”
Roy says if there are any donations left over from Phoenix’ recovery, she wants to use that money and donate it back to help other sick or injured dogs.
To donate to Roy’s GoFundMe, head to this link.
Jamel Johnson is a Multi-Skilled Journalist for FOX61 News. He can be reached at jjohnson@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook and Instagram.
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This article was published by Jamel Johnson on 2025-07-11 23:10:00
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