A trio of mountain lions attacked and injured an 80-pound dog in her pen outside an El Rancho-area home.
Lucky, a 10-year-old Labrador retriever/greyhound mix, was indeed lucky and suffered only superficial bites and claw cuts.
But the pet’s owner is taking no chances, and Lucky, who usually lives and sleeps outdoors in a 20- by-30-foot pen with fences 3 feet to 8 feet high, is spending nights indoors.
“When I looked out, the dog’s head was in the big cat’s mouth,” said Tim Wasinger, who yelled at the lions to scare them off.
The attack happened Saturday about 10:30 p.m. in the Ruby Ranch subdivision south of Interstate 70 and west of Evergreen Parkway.
Wasinger initially saw two cats in the attack.
“They were tangled up by the gate,” he said.
Early Sunday morning, he saw three wandering in the dog pen.
When the lions retreated Saturday, Wasinger opened the pen’s gate and he and Lucky retreated to the house.
Once inside, Wasinger assessed Lucky’s wounds.
“There was surprisingly little blood,” he said.
Still, a large piece of skin on the side of the dog’s chest was torn open and she had wounds on her head and face.
“It was pretty ugly,” Wasinger said.
Lucky was rushed to Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital, which has a 24-hour emergency clinic.
“It’s amazing she didn’t have worse injuries,” said Jennifer Ginn, the treating veterinarian.
No arteries, veins or muscles were punctured or torn and no bones were broken.
One deep cut just missed Lucky’s left eye. She had more than 20 cuts and lacerations.
“We’ve seen some dog-on-dog attacks that have been pretty vicious,” Ginn said. “But this was the most extensive work-over of an animal that I have ever seen.”
In early May, a family in Evergreen reported a mountain lion crushed their Siamese cat.
In April, a mountain lion attacked a 7-year-old boy on Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder. The boy’s family beat the lion off with sticks and rocks.
Wasinger believes the lions that attacked Lucky were an adult female and two cubs. He holds no animosity toward the animals.
“The cats were not doing anything they should not have been doing,” he said. “We’re in their territory. There are things you have to do to protect yourself.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
