BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Nearly a year since a Butler Township woman was attacked by a bear in her own backyard, she sits down with Channel 11 to reflect on the terrifying ordeal and the long road to recovery for her and her dog.
“Smokie is going to get extra treats and extra loving and extra belly scratching,” Lee Ann Galante said. “I just think poor Smokie, he was nose to nose with that bear.”
Last year on March 5, Galante let Smokie out, not knowing there was a bear and its three cubs in her backyard. The bear attacked both of them, injuring Galante while she tried to save Smokie. She had facial surgery to fix some broken bones. She said for the most part, she’s physically healed.
>>> Pittsburgh-area bear attack survivor speaks out from hospital bed
“I still have a plate in my face,” Galante said. “My teeth and my lip and face are a little numb on the side. The back of my head is still numb. I still have a lump and I still have huge, deep scars.”
But mentally, she said it’s emotional thinking back on what happened because it was very traumatic. Since the attack, she said there have been more bear sightings near her neighborhood, so they put up extra lights in her backyard and made changes to their nighttime routine with Smokie.
>>> Butler Township woman released from hospital after bear attack, reunites with beloved dog
“Now what we do at night we hold him, we go off the deck, we look around, we make noise. When we make sure nothing is around, we put Smokie down,” Galante said.
Galante said she still feels so fortunate they both survived.
“When I sit and think about it and I just see that image of Smokie, I just feel so bad because it would have absolutely killed if he wouldn’t have survived this. If he wouldn’t have survived, that would have killed me,” Galante said..
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
