A Florida man was bitten in the stomach last month by a black bear cub while trying to break up a fight between the wild animal and his family’s beloved dog. 

Blake Sprout said his dog was chasing the bear cub, which was close to its mother and two other cubs, after letting the dog out of his Volusia County home around midnight Dec. 20, FOX 35 Orlando reported.

“He growled and charged and just latched onto my stomach,” Sprout told the news outlet of the bear. 

Blake Sprout shows a bruise from a bear bite to his stomach. (WOFL)

Sprout said he intervened as Karen was being attacked because she’s “part of the family.”

“I couldn’t just sit there and watch her die. My kids love her,” he said. “I couldn’t just tell them at Christmas, ‘Our dog is gone.’”

The bears were later trapped by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and relocated. 

Blake Sprout holds his dog, Karen, after an attack by a young bear.  (WOFL)

“FWC bear management staff set traps on the property and successfully caught the three cubs and adult female bear, then relocated the family group,” the agency said in a statement to the outlet. 

In Florida, it’s legal to shoot and kill a bear in self-defense or to defend certain property.