CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Family saves dog from mountain lion attack

Friday, March 9, 2018
Caught on video: Family saves dog in mountain lion attack
Caught on video: Family saves dog in mountain lion attack

DENVER, COLORADO -- A Colorado family jumped into action to save their dog from a mountain lion attack. Their home surveillance video captured the rescue.

Her name is Maeby, but one thing stands certain, this boxer-lab mix is lucky to be alive, and it's understandable, that she's afraid of the dark.

"The mountain lion jumped out of the yard and pounced on her," said Maeby's owner Charlie Allen.

Just a few nights back, she had a close encounter with the big cat kind.

A family surveillance video, showed Maeby heading out the door and running smack dab into a mountain lion.

At that sight, one, two, and then three family members - one with the shovel and one with a flashlight - raced out to save her.

Charlie, the last one to run out of the house, was holding the flashlight.

"It looked up and maybe got away at that point," said Allen. "The dog got away from the lion, the lion could've easily taken after both of them and been on them in a second. Fortunately, it was staring at me instead," said Allen.

Staring at him after taking bites and swipes at Maeby.

When everyone hurriedly tried to get back inside, Allen tried to scare the big cat away with light.

In the video, the mountain lion can be seen moving at a distance but hardly in a hurry to run away.

Allen says his thoughts at that time were, "I hope Maeby's ok. I hope this thing doesn't charge us, but there are two big men here. So we'd at least have a chance. The other thought was 'where's my camera?'"

Maeby was rushed to the vet with several puncture wounds. After a few days of dealing with bandages, now you can see the 65-pounder is true battle tested.

"We're all very thankful she put up a good fight," expressed Allen.

Her extended family is happier than ever to have Maeby around. No doubt about it.

"Like I said, we're really thankful," said Allen.

The surveillance video showed the mountain lion was wearing a radio collar at the time of the attack. It's believed it may have been spotted again in the area since the confrontation with Maeby.