Bulletin E-Edition:
After cougar terrorizes a terrier, Riley the bulldog saves the day
By Yoko Minoura / The Bulletin
Published: January 23. 2008 4:00AM PST| order photo
La Pine resident Bob Daugherty, daughter Shannon, 13, and their dogs Riley, an American bulldog, left, and Sage, a Staffordshire terrier, relax Tuesday after a scare in their yard.
Pete Erickson / The Bulletin
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When Bob Daugherty pulled into the driveway of his La Pine home Tuesday morning, he saw something he won’t soon forget.
A 7-foot, 115-pound cougar had jumped the fence into his backyard.
As he watched from the driveway, the big cat swiped at his female Staffordshire terrier, Sage.
His other dog, a male American bulldog named Riley, raced to Sage’s defense, Daugherty said. Riley faced down the cougar, driving it back a few steps before the big cat turned tail and climbed a tree in the yard.
Daugherty said he then went into the yard, grabbed both of his dogs and hustled them into the house. He also intercepted his oldest daughter, who had started toward the dogs in the yard.
Once inside, at about 9:45 a.m., he called 911.
The cougar stayed in the tree until after a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy arrived and consulted with state and federal wildlife experts over the phone about the best course of action.
Because the cougar had attacked during the day and may have become accustomed to humans, wildlife officials decided the cougar should be killed, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.
Cougars in the wild tend to be shy creatures that hunt primarily at night.
If a cougar poses a threat to people or pets, however, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife kills the animal. Relocation can spread disease or shift the danger to another area.
ODFW also believes the cougar population in the state is healthy. Roughly 5,000 cougars are estimated to live in Oregon, while the department’s management plan calls for a minimum of 3,000, according to the department’s Web site.
Several ranchers and wildlife groups, however, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Portland to block Wildlife Services from culling Oregon’s cougar population on ODFW’s behalf, according to a news release from the Cascadia Wildlands Project, one of the plaintiffs.
ODFW maintains, however, that it eliminates only the cougars that pose a threat to people, pets or livestock.
When the cougar in Daugherty’s yard came back down the tree, the sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the animal.
The body of the big cat was transported to an ODFW office and will be used for research and education, according to the release from the Sheriff’s Office.
Daugherty said wildlife officials told him it was possible that the big cat attacked his female dog because Sage is in heat. The cougar, a female, could have been protecting its territory, or it could have been looking for its next meal.
“I’m just really thankful nobody was hurt, and the kids and dogs were safe and fine,” Daugherty said. “At least we were home and able to report it.”
The pastor at Cavalry Chapel in La Pine, Daugherty had spent Tuesday morning at work before coming home to see the big cat.
Daugherty said that cougars are simply a fact of life in La Pine, just as gangs or gun violence are a fact of life in some big cities.
“The fact that my kids could have been in the middle of it, it’s a little frightening, but we have to understand we live in an area where (cougars live),” he said. “And as a Christian, we believe the Lord is going to look after us.”
But for now, Daugherty said he also plans to keep a closer eye on his dogs.
Yoko Minoura can be reached at 383-0387 or yminoura@bendbulletin.com.
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