‘We saw the hole down to his brain’: Dog ‘Rocky’ defends California family from mountain lion in backyard
By CBSLA Staff
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LA VERNE, California (KCAL, KCBS) — A brave pooch is recovering after fighting off a mountain lion roaming around a La Verne home Monday. The Pit Bull is being called a hero by his family after defending their home, chasing the mountain lion away near the Angeles National Forest.
As soon as she saw its eyes, Mary Padres can be seen in home surveillance video coming back inside the house screaming. “The mountain lion was looking right at me,” said Padres. “It was huge.”
While both of her dogs tried to bark the mountain lion away, it was their smaller dog, Rocky, that went after it. He bolted right after the big cat, out of their backyard and up the hill behind their home. Video shows the scary ordeal in the backyard of the house. Now Rocky has the scars to prove how bold he’s willing to be to protect his family.
“We saw the hole all the way down to his brain,” Padres told KCAL-TV. “To make sure that I was OK, that’s the whole reason he went after that mountain lion.”
Padres and her family grabbed flashlights and went looking for Rocky, despite the mountain lion still being at large. “We wanted to protect our dog,” she said.
Eventually, the family found Rocky with eight large puncture wounds that required thirty stitches from the veterinarian. He is expected to be okay.
Two weeks ago on October 18, another mountain lion was spotted strolling past a home just two-and-a-half miles away, and it was caught on camera behind the same home early Tuesday morning. We don’t know if it’s the same mountain lion, but Padres says she is “100% sure” it is.
Police say they’re working with California Fish and Wildlife to determine whether or not the mountain lion is a threat to other neighbors. Padres is sharing her story hoping it will keep other families and their pets safe. She said after Rocky came home hurt, she heard something else being attacked. “Horrible crying, and then after that it’s quiet,” she said.
Police say if you see a large cat like this it’s best to reach out to the city for help.
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