'My dog is my hero': California woman mourns death of pet Eva who saved her from mountain lion attack
The hero dog named Eva who saved her owner, Erin Wilson from a mountain lion attack in California has died about a month after saving her life. Wilson announced on Wednesday, June 8 that she is mourning the death of her two-year-old Belgian Malinois Eva, who died as a result of the injuries she received while protecting her owner.
"We love you, Eva," Wilson wrote on the GoFundMe page set up to help Eva with her medical bills after the incident. "We said goodbye at 9:20 this morning," she wrote on Instagram. "There were no changes to her condition overnight. Goodbye, my beautiful sweet girl. You are my world, my light, my best friend. The world is a much darker place," she said bidding farewell to her savior.
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Wilson and Eva were walking near the Trinity River in Northern California on May 16 when a mountain lion came at Wilson, shredding her jacket and scratching her shoulder, Wilson told The Sacramento Bee. She went on to say that the mountain lion started snarling at her. “The woman attempted to throw rocks, tug, pull, and even attempted to gouge the eyes out of the lion, to no avail,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife Capt. Patrick Foy wrote in an email to SFGate.
Wilson's 55-pound dog, Eva, who was walking ahead of her off-leash at the time of the attack, "came running" when she cried "Eva! And she hit that cat really hard."
Wilson told the publication, "They fought for a couple seconds, and then I heard her start crying. That's when the cat latched on to her skull." Wilson was able to locate a woman called Sharon Houston who agreed to assist her in releasing Eva from the mountain lion. Houston and Wilson joined forces to attack the mountain lion who had dragged Eva away.
Eva was able to flee to Wilson's pickup vehicle after the mountain lion finally let go of her. Wilson told The Sacramento Bee, "At first, I was like, 'Wow, she's OK.' 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."
Wilson drove Eva 90 minutes to the nearest emergency veterinary facility. Eva had seizures on the way there. Wilson claims her puppy suffered two skull fractures, a sinus cavity puncture, and extensive inflammation around her left eye. Vets, on the other hand, were "optimistic" considering Eva's youthful age and excellent physical condition.
Wilson claimed after the incident, "My dog is my hero, and I owe her my life." According to a GoFundMe post on May 18, Eva was showing promise as she was walking and climbing into her humans’ laps, playing outside and eating soft foods. “There was pep in her step,” Wilson wrote. Wilson then revealed on June 6 that Eva's condition has started to deteriorate due to the severity of her skull injury, after weeks of progress. Two days later, Eva died.
The GoFundMe campaign for Eva's treatment raised $35,154.