Eva, a Belgian Malinois, is now on the road to recovery after she saved her owner from a mountain lion attack. The two-year-old dog and her owner, Erin Wilson, were on a walk near the Trinity River in North Carolina, when a mountain lion charged at Erin. The lion ripped her jacket and scratched her shoulder, while growling and looking to attack again.
Erin described the incident, saying “I yelled 'Eva!' and she came running.” The fifty-five pound dog was walking off lease ahead of Erin, but when she heard her scream, she ran and hit the cat with tremendous force. "They fought for a couple seconds, and then I heard her start crying," Wilson said. "That's when the cat latched on to her skull."
Erin proceeded to punch the lion, hit the animal with stones and sticks, but nothing would make the mountain lion let go of Eva. Wilson ran to her car to grab a tire iron and get help from a driver passing by named Sharon Houston. Houston says that she grabbed a four-foot PVC pipe and pepper spray. Once Houston sprayed the mountain lion with pepper spray, it finally loosened its grip and ran away as Eva was finally able to escape.
"At first, I was like, 'Wow, she's OK," Wilson told reporters. "But when I looked at her closer, I realized she had a couple of puncture wounds on her face. And she just had a lot of blood coming out of her mouth."
Erin then drove her dog to an emergency vet clinic, but Eva began experiencing convulsions during the ninety minute drive. Luckily, she made it to the clinic to begin receiving treatment and is currently recovering at home.
"She's been switched to oral medications. The swelling of her face and her eye has gone down since yesterday. She will spend one more night with the vet. Thank you again to everyone for your love and support," an Instagram update explained. Additionally, a photograph with the post shows Eva eating from a dish with an IV and scars on her head. A GoFundMe for Eva's medical expenses has raised over $32,000, far over its $7,500 goal. All additional funds raised over the cost of medical care will be donated to Malinois rescues, big cat rescues, and predator management groups.
"Fortunately, she pulled through and received urgent treatment," Wilson wrote of her hero dog in the campaign's profile. "She is still not out of the woods, she is heavily sedated until we can be sure the pressure in her head is reduced. She has 2 fractures to her skull, a puncture into the sinus cavity and severe swelling around her left eye, which is impeding her vision. The vet is optimistic, she is 2.5 years old and is otherwise in top shape."
She ends by saying, “"My dog is my hero, and I owe her my life."
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