Officials say the mountain lion still killed her canine and attacked another one in the area.
Brian D. saw a video of a mountain lion walking near Evening Sky Drive Tuesday night. But even though his sister lives nearby with her small dog, he didn’t think to warn her.
“We’re on the next door app, and it was talking about the mountain lion being sighted,” Brian said. “But I figured we didn’t have to tell her, because she never lets the dog out of the house without her being outside.”
But early Thursday morning, Pumbaa — a 10-year-old Miniature Schnauzer — started barking. So Brian’s sister let him out in the yard.
“She opened the door and I think she went out first,” Brian explained. “She saw the mountain lion, her dog charged underneath her legs towards the mountain lion. The mountain lion snapped it right up. She jumped on the mountain lion, tried to pry its jaws open to save her dog. She loves her dog so much.”
Unfortunately, Pumbaa did not make it.
Simi Valley police say the mountain lion that killed him may be the same one that injured another dog in the neighborhood late Wednesday night.
Robert Kharitonoe saw police trying to surround that cat. He said, “It got spooked and started to walk across the street, actually towards my car. That was very, very scary. I rolled up the windows immediately, I tried to stay as calm as I could.”
Police continued their searched Thursday morning, but couldn’t find the mountain lion. So they’re asking pet owners to be on alert.
Dimitri Orloff decided to be safe and drive his dog, Bella, to another neighborhood for her morning walk. “It’s a big dog but it’s a domesticated dog,” he said. “It’s not going to defend itself against a wild animal. A wild animal sees its prey and it’s going to get the upper hand every time.”
Fish and wildlife officials are still looking for the mountain lion, which they say has been collared. But the device does not seem to be working.
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