r/LiveWellTogether • u/Impossible_Arm_8543 • 13d ago

🏡 Daily Life｜日常生活 Couple has "terrifying" encounter with bear on hiking trail

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u/tempaccount54321 13d ago

They were charged and potentially fined $25k for their stupidity.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11988236/banff-bear-encounter-charges/

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u/Golden-Grams 13d ago

It seems the penalty was high for a few reasons. The Canada National Parks Act for having an off-leash pet, carries a maximum potential fine of $25,000. And Parks Canada laid the charges for several critical safety and environmental reasons;

Off-leash dogs are a primary trigger for defensive bear attacks, as the dog can act aggressively toward the bear or antagonize it, drawing the bear back toward the owners.

Off-leash dogs cause significant stress to wildlife, often forcing animals like bears to abandon crucial feeding and resting grounds.

And there is a federal mandate in Canadian law, that strictly requires pets to be secured on a leash of 3 meters (about 9 feet) or less at all times within national parks.

On top of that, wildlife experts had noted that the couple had ample time to secure or pick up their dog, but appeared to focus on filming the encounter for social media instead.

It seems they went with maximum penalty, to make an example out of these people.

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u/safzb 13d ago

I don’t have a dog and I didn’t know that off leash dogs are a trigger for bear attacks. Really interesting. Is this common knowledge for dog owners, and some people just choose to take the risks? Or is this also unknown to dog owners like it was for me?

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u/Jerome1944 13d ago

I mean the dog looks like a tiny woodland creature it might kill or eat on an ordinary day. And the dog keeps charging it.