Wildlife officials killed a mountain lion Thursday that invaded a home near Salida, attacking five dogs and trapping a mother and two children.
The mountain lion entered the home 9 miles northwest of Salida about 4 p.m., after it chased a small dog through a pet door.
Michelle Bese, 27, and two of her children, ages 2 and 5, were inside with the four other dogs.
Bese said in an interview that her Jack Russell terrier had been outside when it spotted the mountain lion and began barking at it.
The mountain lion jumped a 9-foot fence and chased the 6-year-old Jack Russell, named Shai, through the pet door.
Bese was sitting at the kitchen table with her 5-year-old son Logan, who was coloring.
Bese took Logan and ran to the back bedroom where Avery, her 2-year-old, was sleeping.
She shut the bedroom door but then realized the phone was in the living room with the lion.
She dashed out of the bedroom, got the phone, ran back and called her husband, Devin, and then 911.
When Devin arrived, he helped his wife and the two children out a bedroom window.
Minutes later, deputies from the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office arrived along with Colorado Division of Wildlife officials.
The mountain lion remained inside, where it killed one of the dogs, even as a DOW officer pounded on the walls and windows. At that point officers went in and the cat was tranquilized, the DOW said.
Bese said one of her Shih Tzu dogs died and two others each lost an eye from being mauled.
She said the Jack Russell survived, even though the mountain lion had it by the throat at one point.
She said she was afraid that if she opened the door for the dogs, the lion would rush in and attack her children.
The DOW said the 18-month-old male mountain lion was significantly undernourished. After evaluating the lion’s condition, wildlife officials decided to euthanize it.
