Wrangell Sentinel -

SITKA, Alaska (AP) – An elderly pit bull is recovering after he nearly died following an encounter with a bear last week.

The 12-year-old dog, Monkey, was bitten several times by a brown bear in Port Alexander last week and flown to Sitka, where he was treated by veterinarian Burgess Bauder, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported.

Monkey's owner, Joe“Otto” Smith, says he was visiting his parents when things went awry.

“My parents' dogs are pretty savvy to bears and they bark when they're around and

sometimes go tearing off to the beach to do what, we don't know, I guess chase bears,”...