Dog saves man, man eats dog

[Nick]

Crazy story out of Canada today. The first words out of his mouth after being rescued... "I want to get a new dog".

http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/19...-from-bear-attack-camper-eats-dog-to-survive/

A 44-year-old trekker was forced to eat his own dog while stranded in the wilderness just days after his beloved companion saved him from a black bear attack.

Marco Lavoie killed and ate his German shepherd after a bear destroyed his food supply and vital supplies more than 800km out of Montreal, Canada.

According to Canadian news agency QMI, the dog chased off the bear but was killed with with a rock by a desperate Lavoie.

A spokesperson for local authorities reportedly said his first words after being found were: "I want to get a new dog."

"He is very ill and he can barely talk, but when our officers spoke to him in hospital the only thing he said was, 'I want to get a new dog,'" said Richard Carbanneu.

"I suppose he must feel very guilty about eating his pet, it is obvious he loved him very much and did not want to do what he did."

He joined other suvivalists praising Lavoie's 'brave' decision to sacrifice his beloved companion in a bid to survive.
"He was alone in the wilderness with no food for weeks. He had badly hurt his ankle as well, so he could not hunt for food. I suppose he thought he had no choice," he said.

When Lavoie was rescued by helicopter, he had lost over 40kg and was suffering from hypothermia.
He remains in a critical condition in a northern Quebec hospital.

 

[Nick]

Sounds like he survived three months and was near death when he was rescued...

http://abcnews.go.com/International/hiker-survives-months-wilderness-bear-attack/story?id=20754347

 

[DAA]

That rings Jack London-esque!

- DAA

 

[Nanda]

Tragic story. What I don't get is how he decided to eat the dog only after 3/4 days from the initial bear incident. He surely could've waited few more days before realizing it wasn't going to get any better.

 

[Jammer]

Terrible story. I understand the instinct to survive, but I don't see how it would get to this. Hope he gets a survival beacon if he goes back out there.

AND... why didn't his family report him missing before he was almost 3 weeks overdue?!

AND... how did he survive for the next 40+ days after being desperate enough to eat his dog? AND... how could he not get to help in that amount of time? (500 miles north of Montreal isn't THAT remote!)

Ok... that made me a little mad, but I will let it go.

- JG

 

[Aldaron]

I think it was pretty remote: http://goo.gl/maps/4fD3G

This is the story that gave the location: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/01/world/americas/canada-hiker-rescue/

And evidently he had gone out for two months, which is why no one reported him missing. "At some point during a planned two-month canoe trek in the Lake Matagami area..."

Of course, I don't know enough to defend him...I'm just saying it's possible that he did the best he could under the circumstances.

 

[Jammer]

Yeah, I don't know... sure there is MUCH more to the story, but that one story states he was found... "10 days after his family reported him missing and nearly a month after the experienced outdoorsman was expected to return from a two month hiking expedition." So... that seems like the family waited 20 days to report him missing? Wonder if that was his normal margin of error? And...since it says the attack took place in August... that seems like nice temps should have helped him get to where other people would be that time of year.

Again... I realize that there is probably more to it.

Related note... it has always been a pet peeve of mine that all of those "survival" shows focus on how to hunker down and spend days with a puny shelter trying to catch food whereas in 99% of locations one could haul butt for 2 days and get to help. I know this assumes a general sense of navigation would be needed, but unless water is extremely scarce... WALK! (I know SAR says to stay put, but still.)

- JG