[gatagato]

A man has survived more than three months in the Canadian wilderness, but only after eating his dog which had saved him from a bear.

Marco Lavoie was unable to speak or drink when rescuers finally found him on Wednesday (local time). He was hypothermic, dehydrated and had lost half his body weight, CNN reported.

The 44-year-old experienced outdoorsman from Quebec was on a three-month canoe trek in the Lake Matagami area, but midway through a bear attacked his campsite, eating his supplies and destroying his equipment, police said.

His German shepherd scared the bear away and Lavoie escaped injury, but with nothing to eat and no equipment to survive on Lavoie was forced to kill and eat his pet a few days after the attack.

"He survived because he made good decisions. Eating his dog was one of them," Andre Francois Bourbeau, a survival expert, told The Toronto Sun.

Lavoie set out on July 16, but his family alerted police on October 21 to the fact he was overdue.

Police searched eight days without luck before finding him on Wednesday. Due to the terrain rescuers had to carry Lavoie for nearly 2km to a helicopter.

"The conditions he would have had to live through, those could mentally break just about anyone," survival instructor Caleb Musgrave told the Montreal Gazette.

"Up there, in the Canadian shield, there's little plant life to live off, so he would have been slowly, painfully dying when they found him. It's an amazing feat that he was able to keep himself alive this long with almost no equipment."

Given his condition, Lavoie would have only survived another two days, police said.

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/10/31...-quebec-forest
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/america...dog-to-survive
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/01/wo...html?hpt=hp_t3

Marco Lavoie became stranded after a bear attack. The family gave this photo to police to help in their search

[Faline]

First thing i said to myself was "no way i could eat my beloved pet" but i guess no one really knows what they're capable of in such circumstances. Just don't see how i could physically kill an animal. Think i'd need counselling on return.

[bob351]

Mixed emotions on this story, amazing what this guy did however it sucks the dog had to die after saving its owner.

Fucking loyal bastards dogs are, even in death saved its owners life.

[bob351]

Why is food wasn't tied up on a rope in a tree is beyond me though, thats almost if not rule number 1, food and campsite is a no no.

[rapeWhistle]

Damn, that had to be rough.

No telling what any of us would do after a week without food, let alone 3 months.

[Broadjumper]

Originally Posted by bob351 ↗

Why is food wasn't tied up on a rope in a tree is beyond me though, thats almost if not rule number 1, food and campsite is a no no.

Actually today you have to use "bear canisters" in most US national parks.

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by rapeWhistle ↗

Damn, that had to be rough.

No telling what any of us would do after a week without food, let alone 3 months.

halfway through the trip a bear got his food and destroyed his equipment.
he killed and ate his dog only a few days after the attack.

wonder why he killed his dog that short after the bear attack as humans can survive without food easily for two or 3 weeks. dogs can survive for 1 to 2 weeks depending how big the dog is.

but on the other hand he wasn't reporting missing by than and maybe the dog was injured, who knows, but i would have waited till the very last moment before killing my own dog.

[rapeWhistle]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

halfway through the trip a bear got his food and destroyed his equipment.
he killed and ate his dog only a few days after the attack.

wonder why he killed his dog that short after the bear attack as humans can survive without food easily for two or 3 weeks. dogs can survive for 1 to 2 weeks depending how big the dog is.

but on the other hand he wasn't reporting missing by than and maybe the dog was injured, who knows, but i would have waited till the very last moment before killing my own dog.

..or why he didn't have a weapon to protect himself up there in "bear country".

Hell, even if he'd had a .22 cal rifle or an air rifle he could've lived on small game till help arrived.

[IC10021]

...The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head. He remembered the tale of the man, caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass, and so was saved. He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them. Then he could build another fire. He spoke to the dog, calling it to him; but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal, who had never known the man to speak in such way before. Something was the matter, and its suspicious nature sensed danger—it knew not what danger, but somewhere, somehow, in its brain arose an apprehension of the man. It flattened its ears down at the sound of the man's voice, and its restless, hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced; but it would not come to the man. He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog. This unusual posture again excited suspicion, and the animal sidled mincingly away.The man sat up in the snow for a moment and struggled for calmness. Then he pulled on his mittens, by means of his teeth, and got upon his feet. He glanced down at first in order to assure himself that he was really standing up, for the absence of sensation in his feet left him unrelated to the earth. His erect position in itself started to drive the webs of suspicion from the dog's mind; and when he spoke peremptorily, with the sound of whip-lashes in his voice, the dog rendered its customary allegiance and came to him.

from 'To build a Fire' by Jack London

[Megamel29]

Originally Posted by Kelly ↗

First thing i said to myself was "no way i could eat my beloved pet" but i guess no one really knows what they're capable of in such circumstances. Just don't see how i could physically kill an animal. Think i'd need counselling on return.

I think you're right that we don't know if we haven't been there. I can't imagine killing and eating my babies. But who knows? I am not into hiking so I wouldn't be out there anyway. Plus I get lost so easily I would probably end up falling into a crevasse and dieing in like a day.

This guy is way tougher than me.