“Security-footage audio and animal tracks established that the dog, in early March, had battled with a bear who had approached their land.”

“Honey paid a steep price physically, Martinez said during a brief telephone interview on Monday.”

“Martinez’s daughter, Leanna, found the dog in the family’s driveway the next morning with nearly fatal injuries: torn flesh, deep punctures, bruising and huge swelling.”

“The bear just [ripped off] the skin of her neck from below the collar to right under her chin, Denise Martinez said of the wounds on Honey, who previously had been partly blinded from a run-in with a porcupine.”

“The Martinezes brought Honey to the urgent care clinic run by the non-profit Española Humane. There, she underwent surgery and endured daily bandage changes while taking a battery of medications.”

“She betrayed the fact that she becomes terrified whenever a running vacuum cleaner is in her vicinity – yet the bravery she showed defending her homestead and then in the aftermath of those heroics had landed her the moniker 'bear slayer' from both the Martinezes and the shelter.”

“By the time the shelter had published its post about Honey, she was back home, resting amid the horses, her fellow dogs, and the chickens who lay eggs that the Martinezes routinely give away to colleagues and friends, according to the facility.”