A Florida man took deadly actions to protect his puppy against this brutal attack

As the saying goes, “A dog is a man’s best friend.”

Most dog owners will go to great lengths to protect their four-legged furry friends.

And one Florida man took deadly action to protect his puppy against this brutal attack.

A 31-year-old Marion County, Florida man shot and killed a bear to protect his dog.

The shooting happened July 30 in Fort McCoy, an unincorporated community located near the Ocala National Forest in Central Florida.

A perfectly legal killing

The shooting occurred about a month after Florida made it legal for people to kill bears while defending themselves or their property, including pets.

The law took effect on July 1, just days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 87. 

Under the new law, shooters must notify the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) within 24 hours of bears being killed. 

The law also prohibits anyone from possessing or selling bear carcasses after they are killed.

According to Florida wildlife officials, the man, Jesse Tittle, let his dogs out around 5 a.m. on July 30.

Shortly after, he heard his two dogs, a 60-pound pit bull and a 25-pound pit bull-Papillon mix puppy, barking “aggressively” from nearby.

The FWC said Tittle called his dogs, but that the puppy did not return. He then noticed a bear. 

Tittle grabbed his larger dog, but it pulled him toward the bear, and he ended up on the ground. The larger dog was trying to get back to the bear presumably to protect the smaller dog. 

“I noticed that it was a bear. I called the dogs, and only the big dog came. Me and him kind of wrestled around here, and I was trying to hold him down. He wanted to go back because he wasn’t coming back,” Tittle told News 6.

Tittle said he then saw the bear near his puppy, so he attempted to fire a “warning shot” to scare the animals but the bullet struck the bear.

You have to draw a line

According to the FWC, the bear then tried to climb a tree but fell to the ground.

“You have to draw the line at some point and time. It could’ve been somebody’s kid out there. It could have been my niece, my nephew, anybody. A small kid. My grandma,” Tittle said.

Wildlife officials said after the shooting Tittle returned the dogs to his house, and went back to check on the bear which he said was dead, so he called FWC. 

Officials have yet to report on the size of the bear.

Tittle told FWC officers that he always carries a 9mm handgun in case he needs to protect his dogs from coyotes and other predators.

“I did the right thing. I didn’t do anything wrong, whether I face the consequences or not. My dad told me there was a stand-your-ground law against the bears. I was willing to go to jail over shooting the bear,” Tittle said.

Florida wildlife officials said after a review of the evidence and Tittle’s sworn written statement, they determined his actions were reasonable to protect the life of his dog.

Tittle said he sees bears in the yard all the time. 

He said many have damaged his car and trash cans, as well as attacked 13 of his goats.

“The bears are sitting on the porch waiting for you to push the door open. They’re breaking in the cars and windows to grab lunch sitting in there from earlier that day. It’s not the bears’ fault, but it’s not the people’s fault, either,” said Tittle.

DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.