A brave dog owner from Southern California desperately tried to save her pet from an attacking mountain lion, by punching it in the face.
The woman, who has not been named, resorted to punching and scratching the wild animal as she attempted to pry her miniature schnauzer from its jaw.
Sadly, the pet owner’s attempts were unsuccessful, and she was unable to save her beloved dog, Pumbaa.
Sargeant Keith Eisenhour told NBC4:
She obviously cared about her dog very much, as all dog owners do.
She tried to fend the animal off by punching it, elbowing it and tried to pry its jaws open.
The pet owner’s brother, called Brian, explained how his sister had been woken up by Pumbaa at around 2am. Believing he needed to go to the toilet, she opened the door to let him out, which is when she first saw the mountain lion.
He explained:
She jumped on the mountain lion and tried to pry its jaws open to save her dog because she loves her dog so much.
A second officer, Commander Adam Darough, told the Ventura City Star that when he and his colleague arrived at the scene, they found the animal eating the pet dog in the yard before it ran off into nearby hills.
The attack took place around 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles in the Indian Hills neighbourhood.
Simi Valley police confirmed they responded to two separate incidents of mountain lion sightings that night. A second dog, a Havanese, was attacked earlier in the evening but fortunately survived and was taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment, according to ABC7.
Earlier in the week, there were reports of a mountain lion in the Simi Valley area, which prompted police to use a helicopter to search the area with animal control officers.
After the reports, police issued a public safety alert saying there had been multiple sightings of the creature, advising residents to ‘please make sure your animals are indoors’.
A spokesperson for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Ana Beatriz Cholo, told Ventura City Star that attacks like the one on Pumbaa are very, very rare.
Rest in peace, Pumbaa.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.