Man Fights Cougar To Save His Miniature Dachshund Bailey, Punches Animal In The Face
Man fights cougar?
Sounds crazy, right? Well, for one Vancouver man, that is exactly what happened when a cougar snatched up his miniature dachshund, Bailey. Shawn Hanson said he came toe-to-toe with a wild cougar after it captured his beloved pet.
“I see something out of the corner of my eye and a cougar jumped out about 10 to 15 away and just snatched the dog,” Hanson recalled to ABC News. “It put her paw down and her mouth around her [Bailey’s] neck and started dragging her.
“She [Bailey] was making really loud yelping noises like I’d never heard before.”
The incident took place over the holiday weekend as Hanson and his friends were camping at Salmon Beach in Ucluelet, British Columbia. After the group returned from a fishing trip, the cougar emerged from the woods, grabbed the pooch, and dragged her back into the bushes. It was then that Hanson’s adrenaline kicked in, and he took off after the wild animal.
“I just kept pushing the bushes so I could see and dropped down into a muddy, dry creek,” he said. “I was able to spring out of the mud and was screaming at it the whole time.”
Man Fights Off Wild Cougar to Save Mini Dachshund: Shawn Hanson said his adrenaline kicked into… http://t.co/zyK1YwBOqk #trending #news
— Trending News (@trends_news) July 8, 2015
Putting his own safety at risk, Hanson grabbed a fist full of the cougar’s fur, pulled his arm back, and punched the animal in the face until it let go of the one-year-old dachshund.
“I was able to cock back and punch the cougar in the face and it kind of went cross-eyed and just dropped the dog,” he said, according to eCanadaNow. “My initial thought was that it would start swiping at me, but it sat there sort of dazed. I was just relieved at that point.”
Meet Shawn Hanson hero of the week! He saved his dogs life by punching a cougar in the face! http://t.co/aY2C6hlAjh
— Vinnie Taylor (@VinnieTaylor) July 8, 2015
Hanson then returned to the beach with his injured dog, which was alive but injured. After making sure Bailey was safe, he returned to the woods with a shotgun in hand. He had to fire two shots before the animal finally went down.
Fearless man PUNCHES cougar in face after it snatches his beloved puppy http://t.co/K0LX2ucJ9t pic.twitter.com/VNeBQCLddn
— Daily Star (@Daily_Star) July 7, 2015
“It was still in the same location from when I punched it,” Hanson said. “It pounced forward to get a better look at me, so I shot a warning shot off to the side. I could’ve backed away, but it was ready to spring and was only 20 feet away.”
“I was thinking of the safety of myself, the other people, and the children that were around. It is an unfortunate turn of events. They’re beautiful animals, but it turned out to be a cat that was brazen.”
This marks the second incident involving a dachshund and a wild animal within the last week. As the Inquisitr previously reported, a Florida dog was attacked by an alligator in Florida earlier this month. Unfortunately, that dog did not survive the attack.
[Photo via Shutterstock]
