Family saves dog in mountain lion attack

NEDERLAND, CO (KDVR/CNN) – Her name is “Maeby,” but one thing stands certain: the boxer-Labrador mix is lucky to be alive.

It’s understandable, though, if she’s now afraid of the dark.

“The mountain lion jumped out of the yard and pounced on her,” said Charlie Allen, Maeby’s owner.

Earlier this week, Maeby had a close encounter of the big-cat kind.

Family surveillance video shows her running outside the house and smack-dab into a mountain lion.

Three family members, one with a shovel and one with a flashlight, raced out to save her.

Charlie Allen was the last out of the house.

“(The mountain lion) looked up, and Maeby got away at that point,” Allen said.

The lion could have then attacked Allen’s two family members, but it was instead drawn to Allen, staring at him after taking bites and swipes at Maeby.

But everyone got away and ran back inside. Allen then tried to drive the big cat away with his flashlight.

The mountain lion walked away from the light and into the distance, but hardly in a hurry. Allen had a few thoughts running through his head as he waved the mountain lion away.

“I hope Maeby’s OK, and I hope this thing doesn’t charge us. But there’s two big men here, so we’d at least have a chance…and the other is: ‘Where’s my camera?’”

After the danger passed, the family rushed Maeby to the vet to patch up her several puncture wounds.

“We’re very thankful she put up a good fight,” Allen said.

Maeby’s extended family is happier than ever to have her around.

“Thirty-five-second round with a mountain lion, to come out the way she did…like I say, we’re just really thankful,” Allen said.

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