A New Castle woman taking out her dog in her backyard was attacked by a black bear early Wednesday morning, a town administrator confirmed. 

The New Castle Police Department and Colorado Parks and Wildlife responded to the report of the attack at the Castle Valley Ranch neighborhood shortly after 2 a.m. The woman was injured and taken to the hospital, New Castle Town Administrator David Reynolds said.

The extent of the woman’s injuries are unknown at this time.

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“She had let her dog out, and the dog may have encountered the bear, and she may have walked out there not knowing the bear was out there,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said New Castle police immediately had to euthanize a mother bear on scene. A bear cub was also euthanized.

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As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, Reynolds said two additional cubs were perched up in a tree near Riverside Middle School. Colorado Parks and Wildlife will tranquilize and remove the cubs from the area once they climb down the tree. 

Recently, bears have been frequenting urban areas due to a lack of food in higher elevations, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported.

“As always, we advise people not to leave their trash cans out,” Reynolds said. “In this particular case, there were trash cans out the night before.”