Cougar grabbed dog taking potty break in yard. Owner joined brawl outside Canada home

A British Columbia man successfully fought off a cougar after seeing the hungry predator grab his dog during a potty break in the yard.

It happened Wednesday, June 1, outside a home in the western Canadian city of Port Alberni, about 240 miles northwest of Seattle, Washington.

“Shortly after 9 p.m., the man let his small dog outside when a cougar pounced on the dog. The man managed to kick the cougar away and grab his dog,” the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service reported in a Facebook post.

“During the melee, the dog’s owner ... received minor injuries from the cougar. ... The dog is recovering from its injuries.”

A search continues for the cougar. Fears it will attack someone else prompted the Conservation Officer Service to warn people to “stay away from the area and nearby trails.”

The owner was identified as Mark Payne and he said the attack on his dog, Alaska, was instantaneous, CHEK News reported.

“I looked over and I saw this brown paw reach out. ... The cat was overtop Alaska, chomping at it, biting at her face, at her back, at her spine, at her neck. I just immediately went into fight mode,” he told the news outlet.

Multiple kicks to the cougar’s ribs prompted it to roll over, growl at him, then dash into a nearby marsh, CHEK News said.

Cougars as big as 276 pounds have been found in the United States, but the average adult weighs closer to 125 pounds in British Columbia, the British Columbia Fish and Wildlife Branch reports.

“Large adult males may measure 9 feet in length, including a 30-inch tail,” the branch says. “The cougar is capable of killing a 600 pound moose or elk.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 6:27 AM with the headline "Cougar grabbed dog taking potty break in yard. Owner joined brawl outside Canada home."