“My dog is my hero and I owe her my life,” said California resident Erin Wilson in the description of a GoFundMe page set up Tuesday for her 2-year-old Belgian Malinois, Eva.
While at a picnic area in rural Trinity County, Calif., this Monday, the dog responded to Wilson’s yell as she was being attacked by a mountain lion, according to the page.
“She was only a few yards ahead of me and attacked the lion,” Wilson said. “They battled for a few moments until I heard her cry.”
According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, officers from the department responded to a report of a mountain lion attack in Trinity County Monday at approximately 3 p.m., along State Route 299 near Big Bar, Calif. Wilson had been driving along State Route 299 when she stopped beside the road near a picnic area and exited the vehicle with her dog, said a press release.
“She began walking down a path with the dog slightly ahead of her,” CDFW said. “She noticed movement beside her as a mountain lion swiped her across her left shoulder, causing injury.”
At one point, the mountain lion had Eva “by the left side of her head,” and Wilson tried to free her. She also attempted to throw rocks, tug and pull them apart, and “even attempted to gouge the eyes out of the lion, to no avail,” said the CDFW.
Eventually, Wilson managed to flag down a passing vehicle, and a passerby stopped to help with a can of pepper spray. However, the spray had little effect on the lion.
Then, the mountain lion tried “to move off the trail and drag the dog to a different location,” said the CDFW. Before it could Wilson and another woman found a piece of PVC pipe.
They and another woman “beat at the cat,” until her pet was released, Wilson said.
After the incident, Eva convulsed on the hour-long trip to a veterinarian. The dog sustained two skull fractures, a puncture into the sinus cavity and severe swelling around her left eye, which has impaired her vision.
“She is still not out of the woods, she is heavily sedated until we can be sure the pressure in her head is reduced,” said Wilson. As of Wednesday, the GoFundMe page had already surpassed its $7,500 goal with $20,035 in donations raised for Eva.
The CDFW said Wilson drove herself to receive medical treatment in Redding after she drove Eva to the vet.
“Her injuries consist of bite wounds, scratches, bruises and abrasions, but are non-life threatening,” the department said.
In addition to an interview with Wilson, wildlife officers from the CDFW spoke with the passerby, the veterinarian and the emergency medical physician, “and have worked with each of them to collect appropriate samples for analysis,” to determine if an attack has occurred.
Though the CDFW said there is already significant evidence that an attack did happen, it also said the samples had been delivered to the department’s Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Sacramento and were being processed as of Tuesday.
CDFW’s Law Enforcement Division is also working with “allied agency partners” to trap the offending mountain lion and will further evaluate the situation if it is caught.”
Overall, there are an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 mountain lions – also known as cougars and pumas – living in California. According to the Mountain Lion Foundation, there are an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 mountain lions in the U.S.
“Nearly half of California is prime mountain lion territory,” according to the County of San Diego Parks and Recreation. “They are most commonly found in areas with plentiful prey and adequate coverage. These conditions are often found in mountain subdivisions, urban fringes, and open spaces ranging from humid coastal forests to the deserts out east.”
DCFW records show 19 reported mountain lion-human attacks in the state since 1986, including three fatal incidents. The department reminds everyone in the area to remain vigilant in areas near mountain lion habitats.
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