Man Shoots Lion After It Attacks His Dog

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A man shot and killed a 130-pound mountain lion that attacked his dog outside the family’s home near Buckhorn Canyon in the Arapahoe National Forest.

Andy and Tammie Onslow said they heard a “horrible ruckus” outside their front door, grabbed their guns and ran outside to see their dog, a 100-pound malamute named Denali, being dragged over some rocks.

“We just saw the back end of our dog flip off the rocks about 15 feet down,” Tammie Onslow said. “The huge mountain lion was laying on top of her with her head in its mouth.”

The first time Andy Onslow tried to shoot the cat, nothing happened; there was no shell in the gun’s chamber. He grabbed another gun and fired.

The lion escaped into the forest, while Denali began walking back to the family’s property, her only visible injury a torn ear that a Loveland veterinarian later stitched up.

The Onslows later learned the lion had died and Denali had been hit by a bullet, but the dog wasn’t seriously injured.

Andy Onslow said wildlife officials told him the 9- to 11-year-old lion had been fitted with a radio collar because of a record of other human encounters in the past three weeks.

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