SUDDEN VALLEY, Wash. — A dog survives an attack by a 145-pound cougar on Saturday morning in the Sudden Valley near Bellingham.
The pet was snatched just steps from the front door of its home before the owner intervened to save the animal.
Denise Buchanan, the dog’s owner, described the event as a vicious attack that occurred in broad daylight.
“This was eight steps off of my front porch,” Buchanan said. “It’s not like I was walking my dog off leash and she was way up ahead and the cougar sweep down and got it. Like this is right off my front door.”
Buchanan realized something was wrong shortly after her husband let the dog outside.
“I came down the stairs and said oh did you let Izzy out? He said yeah and right then I heard a yelp, yelp,” Buchanan said.
When she opened the door, she saw the cougar holding the dog in its mouth. “Yeah, I open the door and the cougar was right there with Izzy in her mouth,” Buchanan said.
The family’s security camera captured the encounter on the doorstep.
Buchanan’s husband immediately chased the cougar, which prompted the cat to drop the dog before retreating into a nearby tree.
To ensure the cougar did not return for the dog, Buchanan’s husband took further action. “And he got a rock and just hurled it and hit it in the head and then he ran,” Buchanan said.
Following the rescue, the family rushed Izzy to a veterinary hospital for emergency surgery.
Buchanan noted that the small dog is going to be ok and started acting like herself again.
“We have to be with her because she’s got drainage thing and she’s little and she’s scared still,” Buchanan said. “Izzy won’t got out the door without us by her side at night. I had just thought nighttime would be the danger zone if there was anything creeping around.”
Other residents in the Bellingham off of Woodbine Way have also reported cougar activity recently.
Lorri, a neighbor who reported seeing three cougars in the area as recently as Thursday, said the incident has changed how people view their surroundings.
“But yeah, it makes you think because we are right in the woods in the back here,” Lorri said.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials captured the cougar shortly after the family returned from the hospital.
A spokesperson for the agency confirmed the animal was put down on-site. Izzy continues to recover at home with her owners.
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