Two rescue dogs mauled while defending a rescue director from bears

I'm here at Karuna Rescue in Kneeland, where the rescue's director had the scare of her life after two bears raided the rescue's feeding supplies and caught her unprepared. Thankfully, two small but loyal dogs were there to help.

"It was totally terrifying. I've never experienced anything like that. Both the dogs were kind of covered in blood and dirt," said Paula Ray, director of Karuna Rescue.

Paula Ray was doing her last check-ins of the night when she stopped by the feed room to pick up some snacks for her animals.

Inside were two black bears raiding the rescue's grain bins.

When Ray saw them, she immediately turned to leave but fell in the process.

Bentley and Ash, a Chihuahua and white terrier, immediately jumped to her defense.

"I opened the door, saw two huge shapes, startled them, scared me, and I tried to turn to get out of the way and fell. I twisted my knee. So I'm on the ground right outside the door and the two bears just basically came charging to get out. And that's when the two little dogs just came from nowhere," Ray said.

Bentley and Ash both immediately attacked the bears. They were bitten, scratched and severely injured, but that didn't stop them from sending the bears scrambling to the woods.

"They chased them out of there. I mean, I know the bears wanted to go. They were as scared as I was, but I couldn't do anything, you know. And then I just actually managed to get out of the way and get into the tree," Ray said.

After the bears left, Ray immediately drove to Arcata to take the dogs to the hospital.

Tomorrow Ray will take Ash all the way to Santa Rosa to receive extensive treatment.

Ray runs the more than 500-acre free-range rescue entirely by herself and the estimated $15,000 in vet bills between the two dogs is a devastating sum.

Thankfully for Ray, the community has already stepped in with thousands of dollars of support within a little over a day's time.

"By yesterday afternoon, we had received enough donations to cover the whole emergency vet bill, which is just over $4,000, and to cover Bentley's surgery tomorrow. And I think we have about $1,000 that can go towards Ashley's, which still leaves us almost $8,000 short. So, I know it'll happen. We've had some really great support," Ray said.

While both Ash and Bentley are in the early stages of recovery, they were not afraid to say hello.

If you would like to show support, you can find donation links for the remaining $8,000 on the Karuna Rescue Facebook page.

From Kneeland, because local matters, I'm Liam Gwynn with Redwood News.