Posted on 01/04/2010 7:12:50 PM PST by traumer
A golden retriever called Angel is being hailed a hero after it stopped a mountain lion from attacking an 11-year-old boy.
The 18-month-old dog stepped between the big cat and the youngster during a dramatic encounter in western Canada.
Police, who later shot the cougar dead, credited Angel for saving Austin Forman's life.
He had gone to retrieve some firewood outside his family's home in Boston Bar, about 150 miles north-east of Vancouver.
That's when the mountain lion charged across the yard at the boy.
'I was really scared. At first, I didn't know it was a cougar. I thought it was another dog,' Austin told CTV News on Sunday.
'As soon as it went underneath the light, I saw that it was a cougar. I knew at that moment, I had to go inside.'
Angel, who had been at Austin's side, attacked the big cat.
Austin ran into the house and screamed: 'A cougar is eating Angel!'
Mrs Forman said she had to get Austin to repeat himself a few times because he was so shaken.
When she looked out the window, Mrs Foreman couldn't see anything but she could hear Angel wimpering.
'To feel so helpless, I knew I couldn't do anything,' she said.
She called her father-in-law, who told her to call the police.
Royal Canadian Mountain Police Constable Chad Gravelle was nearby and was at the scene within a minute.
The officer found the cougar under the back porch and heard the dog cry out as the cougar chewed its neck.
He fired two rounds into the cougar's rear end, but the cat continued its attack.
The officer closed to within five feet and shot the animal again, killing it.
Even after it was dead, the cat's jaws were clenched on Angel's face.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
prayers up for the kid and the doggie!
And the mother said “I felt so helpless, there was nothing I could do..”
Hmm, one would think living in the back country a 12 gauge is always handy around the home.
Golden retrievers are such fanstastic dogs.
I see the poor dog survived. Now why would this cat attack a child? Are food supplies low? Reminds me of the coyotes coming after children in the LA area.
Golden dogs protect the childrens future. Blue Dogs turn on them and team up with the predators.
A sizable percentage of mountain lion attacks the last decade have come from rabid animals. Rabies usually subsides in the winter months, but it's still a possibility. Hopefully, the dog has had his shots.
Amen to that, Blue Dogs are totally worthless as we have now seen.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
The operative word is LION.
Good Dog!
That boy was old enough to be trained-up with a couple thousand big bore, wide, flat-nosed lead bullets to put an end to the mountain lion before it got to the dog. After a couple thousand of those in training, aiming isn’t necessary for accurate hits on close range varmints like mountain lions.
Shooting Holes in Wounding Theories:
The Mechanics of Terminal Ballistics
http://www.rathcoombe.net/sci-tech/ballistics/wounding.html
poor baby.
Can you own a shotgun in Canada... ?
Food supplies could be low because of the horrific cold that has hit basically the entire northern hemisphere.
That’s always been one of my biggest problems with AGW (besides the fact that the “science” is garbage): Some warming would be GOOD for the biosphere (including us). Cold? Now that’s a whole different matter...
Mountain lions have lost their fear of man in many areas. There have been many attacks in California on joggers, most of whom didn’t survive. There is a picture of a mountain lion in this article below. Apparently this actually was killed in Arizona according to Snopes, and weighed around 220 lbs.
http://www.outdooroddities.com/2008/12/18/huge-cat-mountain-lion-killed-near-swensen-texas/
The paw was reported as 8” across. One big cat. I saw one at Lake Belton near Ft Hood late one night. I didn’t go out after dark without my 44 mag after that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.