Mountain lion snatches dog just ‘feet away’ from his Glendale home

A Glendale nurse practitioner is warning area residents to be on alert for a mountain lion that attacked and dragged away her dog Monday evening just outside her home.

Laura McVay, who works in palliative care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said the big cat snatched her brown 5½-year-old, pint-sized shih tzu named Declan around 11:30 p.m. mere “feet away from the door.”

“My shih tzu was a bright light and just fun and funny and had a great personality and everyone loved and adored him,” McVay said. “Losing a dog is always hard, but when it’s such a sweet soul like he was, it’s especially hard.”

McVay said she had taken Declan out for his final restroom walk of the night when the attack occurred.

The pair were walking back home when McVay said she felt a pull and a “whoosh” from behind.

Laura McVay and her shih tzu, Declan, who was snatched away by a mountain lion in the foothills of Glendale on Monday.

(Courtesy of Laura McVay)

The cat’s jaws were around Declan.

McVay initially yelled and tried to make herself bigger to startle away the predator. Those efforts weren’t enough, however.

“It was so strong,” McVay said of the cougar. “I’m pulling his leash and screaming and trying to do everything you’re told to do.”

In the heat of the moment, McVay said she wasn’t sure if she let go or if the mountain lion ripped Declan out of the leash, but the cat pulled away its prey and scurried back into the nearby foothills.

She said that, as her adrenaline was pumping, she didn’t fear for her personal safety, “though in retrospect, maybe I should have.”

After the attack, “I kind of was in shock,” McVay said. “I called my best friend and she talked me down and tried to console me.”

McVay said she went to bed in grief and unsure what action to take next. She eventually filed an attack report with California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Cort Klopping said a department biologist headed to the area of the Verdugo Mountains where the attack occurred to investigate and spoke with McVay.

“From the description given, I think it’s safe to say it was a mountain lion,” Klopping said. “It seems like a terrifying experience.”

Klopping added that although there had been no reports of mountain lion attacks in the immediate area, the Verdugo Mountains are an “island of robust wildlife habitat” for bears, coyotes and mountain lions.

He said that the mountain lion’s prey of choice, mule deer, have been less readily available lately, potentially making them look for other sources of food.

McVay said she hadn’t felt the need to carry a stick or try other methods of defending herself because she had grown up in the area and was only aware of coyotes, which she felt could be easily frightened off. She’d never heard of a mountain lion attack in her area, she said.

McVay said she wished she had just taken Declan into the backyard to relieve himself but knew how much her shih tzu loved an outdoor walk.

“If I can give any advice, it’s to carry a bat or weapon to protect you and your animal,” McVay said. “If I can save at least one life, that will help me make this right.”

Here are a few tips from the Fish and Wildlife Department:

• Avoid walking or jogging at dawn, dusk or night.
• Keep pets leashed and, if walking with small children, don’t let them run ahead.
• Don’t crouch or bend over but face the animal, make loud noise and try to look bigger.