Colton, 6, was playing in the driveway of his home in Torrington, Connecticut, on July 4. No one expected what came next. A black bear, nearly twice the size of Bella, the family’s mixed-breed husky, came out of nowhere straight toward the boy.
Bella did not hesitate. She lunged at the bear with a bark that her owner, Jeffrey Tazzara, described as unlike any other he had ever heard from her before. She chased it across the yard, bit it on the rear, and forced it to crash into a bin before it fled into the woods.
Bella’s feat did not go unnoticed beyond the family: state senator Stephen Harding and representative Joe Canino presented her with a legislative commendation. You, too, would think twice before underestimating a guard dog.