“A dog is a man’s best friend,” is a saying that originated in a Supreme Court case.
Based on the saying, which stems from the wrenching closing argument in the 1870 Missouri Supreme Court case of ‘Old Drum,’ many dog owners will go to great lengths to protect their “best friends.”
And now a real man of Florida protected his puppy by taking these drastic measures that caused one death.
A 31-year-old Marion County, Florida man shot and killed a bear in a struggle to protect his dog.
The shooting occurred on July 30 in Fort McCoy, an unincorporated community near the Ocala National Forest in Central Florida.
A perfectly legal case of self-defense
The shooting took place roughly a month after a new Florida law made it legal for residents to kill bears while defending themselves or their property.
And that includes their pets.
The law took effect on July 1, just days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 87.
Under the new law, anyone who shoots and kills a bear must notify the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) within 24 hours of bears being killed.
The law also prohibits anyone from possessing or selling bear carcasses after they are killed.
According to Florida wildlife officials, Jesse Tittle let his dogs out around 5 a.m. on July 30.
Shortly after, he heard his two dogs, a 60-pound pit bull and a 25-pound pit bull-Papillon mix puppy, barking “aggressively.”
The FWC said Tittle tried calling his dogs, but the puppy did not return.
He then noticed the bear.
Tittle grabbed hold of his larger dog, but it pulled him toward the bear, and he ended up on the ground.
The larger dog was trying to get back to the bear presumably to try and protect the smaller dog.
“I noticed that it was a bear. I called the dogs, and only the big dog came. Me and him kind of wrestled around here, and I was trying to hold him down. He wanted to go back because he wasn’t coming back,” Tittle told News 6.
Tittle said he then saw the bear near his puppy, so he attempted to fire a “warning shot” to scare the animals but the bullet struck the bear.
There could have been a kid out there
According to the FWC, the bear then tried to climb a tree but fell to the ground dead.
“You have to draw the line at some point and time. It could’ve been somebody’s kid out there. It could have been my niece, my nephew, anybody. A small kid. My grandma,” Tittle said.
Wildlife officials said after the shooting Tittle returned the dogs to his house, and went back to check on the bear which he said was dead, so he called FWC.
Officials have yet to report on the size of the bear.
Tittle told FWC officers that he always carries a 9mm handgun in case he needs to protect his dogs from coyotes and other predators.
“I did the right thing. I didn’t do anything wrong, whether I face the consequences or not. My dad told me there was a stand-your-ground law against the bears. I was willing to go to jail over shooting the bear,” Tittle said.
Florida wildlife officials said after a review of the evidence and Tittle’s sworn written statement, they determined his actions were reasonable to protect the life of his dog.
Tittle said he sees bears in his yard all the time and that they cause havoc.
He said his car and trash cans have been damaged, and that his goats have been victims of bear attacks.
“The bears are sitting on the porch waiting for you to push the door open. They’re breaking in the cars and windows to grab lunch sitting in there from earlier that day. It’s not the bears’ fault, but it’s not the people’s fault, either,” said Tittle.