See teen girl save her dogs from a bear: 'Push an apex predator, man'
The thought of the family pets being hurt was just un-bearable.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
In this age of YouTube and TikTok, it can be hard to find a truly startling video. But here's an exception: Citlally Morinico shared on Facebook a video taken Monday that shows her teen daughter dashing to the defense of the family dogs, and shoving a bear that was attempting to take a swipe at the pets.
My child Hailey Moriniconiconii just saved our dog with super human strength. For me one of the scariest moments in life CBS News KTLA 5 News ABC7 For licensing and usage, contact: licensing@viralhog.com
Posted by Citlally Morinico on Monday, May 31, 2021
The brave act was captured in a home security video that Morinico shared on Facebook. It shows the bear and two cubs ambling their way down a stone wall at the family's home in Bradbury, California. The dogs -- a total of four -- see the bear threatening their territory and race out to defend the block. The bear begins to swipe at them, and Hailey Morinico, just 17, shows up and shoves the bear off the wall and out of the yard, while its cubs flee.
"My child Hailey Morinico just saved our dog with super human strength," she wrote on the post. "For me one of the scariest moments in life."
Morinico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It seems her daughter did not quite realize what she was getting herself into, thinking only about protecting the family pooches.
"I thought they were just barking at a dog, because they always bark at dogs, or like, squirrels or whatever, because they're dumb," Hailey said in a TikTok video she posted about the bear incident. "And when I went over there to see what they were barking at, I'm like, that's a funny-looking dog ... And the first thing I think to do is push it, push an apex predator, man."
Hailey said she didn't think she pushed the bear hard, just hard enough to make the animal lose her balance on the wall. Hailey then grabbed one of the dogs and ran, spraining her finger and hurting her knee in the process.
"But we're all OK," she said in her video.