A mountain lion attacked a leashed PitBull, named “Gigi”, in the Los Angeles suburb of Sylmar, resulting in the pet dog’s immediate death.
A resident from Sylmar witnessed the incident and posted details about the mountain lion along with photos on a Facebook group on August 11, Sunday.
He wrote, “this mountain lion is at least 200 lbs and is still roaming the neighborhood, be on guard and do not walk your pets.”
“The mountain lion is still roaming around untagged waiting for its next victim, be on guard,” the resident wrote.
In another Facebook post, Mark Rulon, the owner and founder of the non-profit organization Southern California Pit Bull Rescue, revealed: “I received a phone call from a woman that stated she witnessed a mountain lion carrying Gigi after attacking her in Sylmar, where Gigi lived.”
Rulon fostered the dog, named Gigi, before it was officially adopted by her current family. “We recently rescued her from the Bakersfield Animal Shelter after she was found as a stray,” Rulon added.
Rulon also reveals that the woman called him because the pooch still had the dog tag he had on her.
Rulon said the woman “honked her car horn and tried to run the mountain lion over, causing it to drop Gigi’s lifeless body.”
He also said that Gigi didn’t have any obvious signs of trauma and the mountain lion may have snapped Gigi’s neck, which killed her instantly.
Rulon also reveals more information about the incident saying, “Apparently, the adopter’s father was walking Gigi, when the mountain lion jumped on her. He said he kicked the mountain lion, but, it grabbed her. He ran for help”
However, Rulon couldn’t help but show disappointment about how the adopter’s father handled the whole situation.
“We are extremely bothered by the fathers lack of compassion in her passing,” Rulon said. “After the mountain lion attacked her, he went home to have a beer. He wasn’t out searching for her.”
“I find [it] unconvincing,” he wrote further. “The mobile home community they reside in has a small park, which suggests that Gigi was allowed to roam freely when the attack occurred. I fail to comprehend the reason behind walking a pet late at night.”
With the way the situation was handled by Gigi’s family, many questioned Rulon why their organization chose the family as Gigi’s new (supposed) forever home.
However, in a recent update, Rulon gave the people the answer they’ve been looking for.
He responded by saying, “This is a family of four that recently lost their dog and the children were in love with her.”
Rulon also reveals that Gigi’s passing “hits extremely hard” because she wasn’t ill at all and was just an overall amazing dog.
“She was just a sweetheart of a little girl,” he said.
“Gigi was a dog my family and myself loved dearly. We are absolutely devastated by her loss. And people wonder why people get out of rescue,” Rulon wrote.