In February, 2025, a bear woke up during the night disoriented and frightened, and scared a young person.  Police were called and shot the bear, because no one would come to sedate a bear at night.  We would like police to handle things in a humane non lethal way.  We would like the Province of Ontario to provide humane responses 24/7, 365 days, and not just during the day.  We would like the municipality to work with humane rescues like www.bearwithus.org

Mike McIntosh is the founder and president of Bear With Us, a bear rehabilitation centre and sanctuary in Sprucedale.

We would also like police violence against animals to be investigated by a third party and ended.  Currently no one oversees police violence against animals.  LECA recently justified the police shooting, claiming no one else was available and the police are entitled to shoot guns if they think that keeps people “safe”.

Please let LECA know we are not happy and want this fully investigated.  Complaints can be filled out here.

CTV reports the family is “lucky to escape with their lives”, but this is not quite true. What was a child and a dog doing outside at night anyway?  Bear injuries to humans are exceptionally rare, and urban bears never kill or seriously injure humans.  An ”angry bear?…or a bear dislodged from the den and confused?  And a dog on the scene, is always perceived by a bear as trouble, even if perceived by family as a saviour. A sad story with the usual sad ending for the bear, with much misinterpreting by people and media.  Public “safety“ always comes first, despite the obvious that shooting a gun in someone’s backyard, at night, near children and dogs, puts everyone at risk and causes post traumatic stress disorder.

“Bears that are out of their dens at this time (are) not likely because of choice,” McIntosh told CTV News Sudbury reporter Amanda Hicks by text.  “Often the cause may be human activity, such as construction, logging or tree cutting or other human activity that takes place in wild areas such as snowmobiles. Another reason may be a young bear or small orphan that is out in the snow looking for food due to starvation.”. He also said the amount of snow coupled with the cold temperatures appear to have reduced the number of winter bear sightings this year.”