Brave dog saves owner from mountain lion attack

• A dog and her owner were walking near Trinity River in Northern California when they were attacked by a mountain lion. 
• The cat began snarling at the woman and scratched her shoulder. 
• The dog tried to save her owner, but the cat latched onto the dog’s skull. 

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A heroic dog is recovering after defending her owner from a mountain lion.

Erin Wilson and her two-year-old Belgian Malinois Eva were walking near Trinity River in Northern California on Monday when a mountain lion came at Wilson. She told The Sacramento Bee that the mountain lion ripped through her jacket and scratched her shoulder, and then began snarling at her.

She called for her 55-pound dog, who was walking ahead of her without her leash when the attack happened. 

“I yelled ‘Eva!’ and she came running. And she hit that cat really hard,” Wilson recounted. 

Wilson said the two animals fought for a couple of seconds, and then the cat latched onto the dog’s skull. The dog owner started pounding the mountain lion and hitting it with rocks and wood, but it fought back as she tried to suffocate it and gouge out its eyes. Still, the mountain lion wouldn’t let go of Eva, so Wilson dashed to her car to get a tire iron and seek assistance from passing motorists.

Wilson was successful in flagging down one woman named Sharon Houston. Houston grabbed a four-foot PVC pipe and pepper spray and joined Wilson in attacking the mountain lion that had dragged Eva away. When Houston aimed the pepper spray at the cat, it finally let go and rushed away, while Eva fled to Wilson’s pickup truck.

Wilson said she initially thought her dog was okay, but then she realized that Eva had several puncture wounds on her face and was bleeding in the mouth.

Wilson drove Eva 90 minutes to the nearest emergency veterinary facility. Eva had convulsions while they were on the way.

Eva is doing much better now, according to Wilson.

According to an Instagram post uploaded on Eva’s account on Wednesday, the puppy “continues to improve.”

“She’s been switched to oral medications. The swelling of her face and her eye has gone down since yesterday. She will spend one more night with the vet. Thank you again to everyone for your love and support,” read the update, which also shows a photo of Eva with an IV in her arm and scars on her head.

A GoFundMe campaign for Eva’s medical expenses has collected more than $21,000, well above its $7,500 goal.

“My dog is my hero, and I owe her my life,” Wilson wrote in the campaign’s profile.

She then announced that any donations not used to pay Eva’s medical fees would be donated to “Malinois rescues, big cat rescues, and predator management groups.”

Source: People