Girl, 17, who pushed a BEAR says it was a split-second decision to save her dogs

A California teen who charged at a huge bear in the backyard of her home says it was a split-second decision she made in order to save her beloved dogs. 

Hailey Morinico, 17, was seen on her home surveillance camera Monday charging towards the predator after it clambered atop a wall outside her Bradbury residence. 

The mother bear was with her two young cubs looking for food before she began pawing at Morinico’s four barking canines. 

‘Honestly, I did not know it was a bear until right after I pushed it,’ Morinico told Good Morning America on Wednesday of the now-viral footage that shows her beating the bear away from her pooches. 

‘I didn’t know I had it in me to be honest. Who does that? Who in their right mind pushes a bear?’ 

Hailey Morinico, 17, is speaking out after charging at a huge brown bear who appeared in the backyard of her home

Morinico was seen on her home surveillance camera Monday charging towards the predator after it clambered atop a wall outside her Bradbury residence.

Morinico was seen on her home surveillance camera Monday charging towards the predator after it clambered atop a wall outside her Bradbury residence. 

Morinico’s mom, Citlally, also appeared on the morning program and said she was ‘horrified’ by the footage of her daughter’s brush with the brown bear. 

Miraculously, Morinico only ended up with a sprained finger during the encounter and experts say she is lucky to be alive. 

‘The is nothing more dangerous than a mother bear with her cubs,’ wildlife expert Ron Magill told Good Morning America.  

‘Never run at an animal and never make physical contact. That could be disastrous.’ 

Morinico also appeared on CNN, accompanied by one of her beloved pet pooches that she helped save from the clutches of the hungry mother bear. 

‘I was like, oh, my gosh, there is a bear, and it is taking my dog. It is lifting her off the ground. If I don’t do something about it, who knows what might happen to her,’ the teen told hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar.   

Morinico's mom (left) also appeared on the morning program and said she was 'horrified' by the footage of her daughter's brush with the brown bear

Morinico’s mom (left) also appeared on the morning program and said she was ‘horrified’ by the footage of her daughter’s brush with the brown bear

Morinico also appeared on CNN, accompanied by one of her beloved pet pooches that she helped save from the clutches of the hungry mother bear

Morinico also appeared on CNN, accompanied by one of her beloved pet pooches that she helped save from the clutches of the hungry mother bear

Video of Morinico’s encounter with the animal went viral after she first shared it on Tiktok.  

She told her followers on the social media site that she initially heard her dogs barking and went to tell them to stop.

‘When I go over there to see what they’re barking at I’m like, “ok that’s a funny looking dog,”‘ she recounted.  

Morinico said the mother bear had gone to pick up her smallest dog , Valentina.

‘She’s the baby and as her slave I have to protect her,’ she remarked.

‘To be honest I don’t think I pushed her [the bear] that hard, I just pushed her enough to lose her balance.’

In a true fight-or-flight moment, the teenager daringly approaches the fully grown adult black bear and pushes it off the wall before immediately gathering her pets and going inside. She showed off her injuries on Instagram

Hailey Morinico, the 'mother' and rescuer of her dogs recounted the incident, and showed off her injuries from her face-off

In a true fight-or-flight moment, the teenager daringly approaches the fully grown adult black bear and pushes it off the wall before immediately gathering her pets and going inside. She showed off her injuries on Instagram and TikTok

The wild scene was captured on surveillance video and posted to TikTok on Tuesday, garnering 53.2k likes and nearly 2.2k comments over an eight-hour period. In this still, the California teen bravely pushes the adult black bear off of her garden wall in a move to protect her pet dogs

The wild scene was captured on surveillance video and posted to TikTok on Tuesday, garnering 53.2k likes and nearly 2.2k comments over an eight-hour period. In this still, the California teen bravely pushes the adult black bear off of her garden wall in a move to protect her pet dogs

TikTokers noted how fast the woman was able to jump into action to protect her pets, while commending her for bravery and quick-thinking.

‘Can you please post cousin Hailey’s workout routine?’ a commenter named Lexie quipped. 

‘You are dog mom of the century,’ another TikToker commented. 

‘Kudos to the dog mom, that’s fierce.’   

Morinico said that in her location bear sightings were common during the summer.