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Bear nearly eats cat, gets away with a bag of garbage

Cat saved from bear

A Westside Road resident says it was a close call for her neighbour’s cat.

She and her partner, who live in the Westshore Estates area, were recently driving by when they spotted a black bear that had cornered the kitty. They turned their vehicle around and started yelling to scare the bear off.

They also warned a girl who was walking her dog nearby because they were worried she might startle the animal.

The bruin they nicknamed Alf has been frequenting the area, along with a bigger bear they call Shaq, ever since residents returned following the lifting of the month-long evacuation order issued during the White Rock Lake wildfire.

Eventually, the couple managed to scare the bear away, but it made off with a bag of garbage in its jaws.

They are urging their neighbours to not leave garbage outside. That has been a challenge, as people whose homes were damaged during the fire clean up their properties.

Castanet was contacted earlier this week by a North Westside resident who was upset someone dumped their appliances, full of spoiled food, outside an empty lot in Westshore Estates.

The Regional District of Central Okanagan had been picking up fridges and freezers that were contaminated during the evacuation order.

That service ended and the next opportunity to drop them off will be during the Bulky Household Item Collection at the North Westside transfer station during its regular operating days and hours, from Oct. 6 to 20.

RDCO has also extended the hours at the North Westside Road transfer station for property owners affected by the White Rock Lake Wildfire. The transfer station is open daily from 8 a.m. until noon until Thursday, September 30. The facility will return to normal operating hours on October 1.



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