It was coming from his backyard. Kaleb’s stomach dropped as he realized it must be Buddy. He dropped the knife and raced outside, around the house. Suddenly, he gasped. His heart felt as though it would break out of his chest. He catapulted into action.
“Honestly, the only thing I could think of was ‘save my baby’…I would die for my dog”, Kaleb stated.
Kaleb Benham was inside his new home in Grass Valley, California when he faced the most traumatic experience of his life.
Kaleb had just moved into his new home. The move was a welcome end to a long journey of house visits, documents, negotiations, and headaches! He was just happy he could finally relax. Or so he thought.
He looked it straight in the eye as his heart thudded ferociously. He had never been so close to something so dangerous before. He didn’t have time to think, his body moved instinctually.
It took Kaleb a couple of days to settle into the house before he decided to go around to the neighbors and introduce himself and his dog, Buddy to them.
While Kaleb loaded small packs of beer in his car as a friendly token to his neighbors, Buddy ran around his backyard, exploring.
His backyard was big and it was surrounded by woodland that framed the back of the whole neighborhood. It was every dog’s dream! But this dream would soon turn into a real-life nightmare.
After some convincing, Kaleb managed to get Buddy to leave whatever scent had distracted him in the back of the yard and get him into the car.
They greeted each neighbor one by one. Everyone seemed nice except for one neighbor that looked at Buddy and sighed. “Is this your dog? You shouldn’t be bringing him around here”, he scorned.
Confused, Kaleb asked him what he meant. The man replied, “If it were me, I’d find a different house or lose the dog”. Kaleb looked down at Buddy’s innocent little face. Was this man just threatening his dog?
Not wanting to start on a bad foot, Kaleb let the man’s comments slide. He never thought that there could have been more to that warning than meets the eye.
When Kaleb got home, Buddy darted straight out towards the backyard again. Kaleb shook his head after him as he made his way inside.
He didn’t worry about Buddy wandering off as he was well-trained and knew to stay close. Thinking he just wanted to sniff and play, Kaleb relaxed as he prepared dinner. But Kaleb was wrong, and something really, really bad was about to happen.
At first, he thought it was in his head. But when it happened, he stopped chopping the vegetables and listened. He wasn’t hearing things. It sounded like a dog whining.
Suddenly, Kaleb thought of Buddy. He dropped the knife and ran out to the door. But it stopped. Was that him? He called his name but he didn’t return. Then he heard it again.
It was coming from his backyard. Kaleb’s stomach dropped as he realized it must be Buddy. He raced around the house and gasped.
“I heard a growl”, Kaleb recalled, “It was about 75 – 100 feet away”. Without hesitation, Kaleb jumped into action. “Honestly, the only thing I could think of was ‘save my baby’…I would die for my dog”, Kaleb stated.
After Kaleb realized the graveness of the situation and what was happening, he had no time to think about his own safety. He sprinted towards his beloved dog and did something he would have never imagined doing.
Buddy was still yelping out for help. The terrifying creature had him cornered, he had nowhere to run.
Just as it was about to make its final move, Kaleb used the weight of his body and momentum to plow into the side of its unexpecting frame.
The sudden jolt frightened the animal. It backed away immediately but not before it tested Kaleb with a stand off. Kaleb grabbed his dog and stood his ground with his heart pounding out of his chest. Luckily, the distant sound of a shotgun scared it off. What was it?
Kaleb tackled a 350-pound Bear to save the life of his dog, Buddy who had already been attacked and was shaking. He wouldn’t have suffered the fight, so Kaleb came to the rescue just in time.
Although Buddy suffered injuries, none of them were grave but Kaleb wasn’t at ease. He speedily got him into his car and raced to the nearest vet. But there was a problem.
Due to Covid-19, most vets in the surrounding area were closed. He rang multiple vets in the wider location before he finally got a hold of one willing to look at Buddy immediately.
Kaleb waited nervously as Buddy got checked out. Kaleb worried that he might have suffered internal injuries that weren’t visible. Fortunately, all Buddy needed was a few stitches here and there! But the story didn’t end there.
Once news spread of Kaleb’s heroic endeavor, reporters were eager to get the inside scoop. Kaleb and Buddy entertained the press for a couple of interviews and reiterated the life-threatening and frightening event.
However, as the story of Kaleb, Buddy, and the bear got bigger, there were some mixed views on how Kaleb handled the situation.
Some thought Kaleb shouldn’t have risked his life so willingly and questioned him for being so reckless as he could have escalated the situation. Many agreed it was lucky they both came out alive and relatively unharmed.
However, Kaleb feels he did the right thing as he expressed to the public, “If it was your kid, what would you do?”. What do you think? Would you do the same for your beloved pooch?
