Butler County bear attack sends woman to the hospital

A black bear attacked a woman in her Butler Township backyard Tuesday night, injuring the woman badly enough that she’s hospitalized.

Lee Ann Galante, 55, was attacked after her dog had an altercation with the mother bear’s three cubs, according to Butler Township Patrolman Jon Schaffner.

The attack happened about 8:30 p.m. in the 100 block of Bellefield Drive in the Homeacre-Lyndora neighborhood, not far from Route 8.

She spoke with TribLive news partner WTAE-TV about the experience Wednesday from her room in Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

“She had me down, and she bit my arm and she was on top of me,” Gallante said. “I thought I was going to die. … I just couldn’t believe this was happening.”

Galante heard a commotion outside involving her dog and, when she tried to get her dog away from the smaller bears, the mother bear attacked her, police said.

Galante was transported from Butler County Hospital on Tuesday night and later was moved to the Pittsburgh hospital for further treatment.

In a release, Butler Township police said she suffered injuries to her arm, face, neck and head. Additional information on her condition was not available.

Schaffner reported the woman’s dog is fine and that it was the first bear call for the department since last fall.

The victim was able to get away from the bear and go inside her residence to call for medical help, according to WTAE-TV.

The three cubs climbed up a tree after the incident.

Pennsylvania Game Commission personnel killed the mother bear when it again became aggressive toward officers at the scene.

Travis Lau, the Game Commission’s director of communications, said rabies was not detected in the adult female, clearing the way for the yearlings to be released at another, unspecified, location Thursday morning.

Lau said the three young bears are yearlings, as opposed to newborn cubs. They initially were tranquilized.

Lau said Game Commission officers interviewed Galante on Wednesday. He did not release details of what she told them other than to confirm “there was a dog involved.”

Lau said “a lot of citizens” ask why bears that attack people are euthanized.

“The answer is that, even when there are circumstances such as a dog being present or a bear being cornered, that might trigger an attack, it is also possible that these factors did not play a role and that the bear is simply prone to attack.

“Bear involved in attacks are euthanized to ensure public safety.

“It’s not an action the Game Commission (the mission of which is to manage and protect wildlife and habitat) takes lightly.

“The agency’s management of Pennsylvania’s black bear resource played no small part in bringing bears from the brink.”

Black bear attacks on humans in Pennsylvania are extremely rare, but Tuesday’s incident is at least the third in the state in the past year.

In May 2023, two Luzerne County toddlers were attacked by a bear in the driveway of their home. The children suffered superficial bites and scratches.

In July of last year, a Montour County man was bitten on his head when he encountered a bear that wandered into his garage.

Butler bears seen before

Nancy Godineaux lives nearby on Jarrett Avenue and knows Galante.

Godineaux reported seeing a bear enter her property from the woods last fall.

“I was concerned because I’m a city girl, and I have a dog,” Godineaux said. “A game warden official told me to not have a bird feeder, don’t run, don’t make noise. They told me a bear wouldn’t go after a large dog.”

But Godineaux said she remained on edge and has seen a bear in the neighborhood at least 10 times over the past month.

Her neighbor posted Ring doorbell footage of four bears in their driveway on Bellefield Drive on Feb. 12. In the video, the bears are seen rummaging through the neighbor’s trash cans.

Godineaux, originally from Brooklyn, said she called the Pennsylvania Game Commission on Feb. 19 to report a bear sighting on her property.

“I called them because, this time, I was really scared because the bear tracked my dog to my door. You could see the bear tracking my dog’s paw prints in the snow,” Godineaux said. “They told me to stop walking my dog at night and put up a fence.”

Courtesy of Nancy Godineaux

A bear is caught on video Feb. 18 at the residence of Nancy Godineaux in Butler Township.

Godineaux said she’s saddened to hear of the news of the bear attack Tuesday night.

“I feel like, if they had come out and investigated, the bear could have been trapped,” she said. “In response to the recent bear sightings, I changed my dog-walking pattern and time of day to try and avoid the bear.”

Godineaux said she saw a bear in the neighborhood two days before the attack at 6:50 a.m.

“It could have been prevented if the game warden had intervened earlier. Every call is not a frantic neighbor. I was truly concerned,” she said. “When the attack happened, my neighbors thought it was me and my dog, Hercules. My phone blew up with concerned neighbors.”