Facebook Post Reunites Montana Man With His Dog After Bear Attack in Alaska
A Facebook post helped a Montana man reunite with his dog after he was attacked by a brown bear on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, the Associated Press reported.
Jason Umbriaco was bitten twice by the bear and taken to a Soldotna hospital for treatment, but his dog, Buckley, was lost, along with his collar and tags, during the attack. Two hospital employees heard that Umbriaco's dog was missing and suggested to him that they make a Facebook post.
"I said, 'Listen, Alaskans love dogs, so if you can just text me a picture of your dog and a general location, I'll put it out on Facebook and it'll be shared,'" said Bonnie Nichols, one of the employees.
Nichols received a call the next day from Wendie Wilson, who had found a stray dog while driving to Anchorage. Wilson sent pictures of the dog to Nichols, and Umbriaco confirmed that it was Buckley.
"It was just a shock. I couldn't believe it," Umbriaco said after being reunited with Buckley. "I had kind of given up hope, and I was sort of making preparations inside to just move forward without him, and now it's like I'm gonna have those times back of just joy, and peace."
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

The attack happened in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of Anchorage, while he and Buckley were hiking.
Umbriaco said the bear moved on him so fast, he didn't have time to pull out his bear spray. He said the bear covered about 50 feet (15 meters) "in an instant. So then I held my arms up in sort of a defensive position and then she bit me on the forearm kind of up close to my elbow."
When the bear let go, he panicked and jumped into the adjacent Kenai River.
"In almost any other circumstance and in probably this circumstance, it was a terrible option, but that was the one I had," he said. "And then she reaches down and then bites me on the shoulder."
The bear retreated after the second bite and was last seen walking up a hill with her cubs.
Given that reprieve, Umbriaco walked back to his truck to call for help.
"I was concerned that if I don't walk out right now, I don't know if I'll be able to," Umbriaco said. "After the conflict, I was calling and calling for Buckley, and apparently he had just run off, you know. He was just terrified and had taken off."
Umbriaco was reunited with Buckley after spending one night in the hospital.
He said he was grateful for the many strangers who stepped in to help reunite him with Buckley, one of the many dogs over the years to help him through difficult times after suffering a traumatic brain injury in 2008.
"And that's why Buckley is just a big part of my life," he said. "I made some bad choices going down that trail, so I'm just going to redouble being cautious, but the summer is moving forward. We're still camping, we're still hiking, and we're just gonna go forward with a new understanding."
