A pet cougar raised around people from a cub and a cougar in the wild aren’t even remotely comparable. Even animals raised in captivity (I’m surprised that you even condoned that it was okay for her to have this wild animal as a pet) are unpredictable. Sure, dogs bite people all the time. Usually these are not fatal. Some are obviously. I don’t agree with hunting an animal for sport. But, given the choice of protecting myself and my dog, I will ensure my survival.

When I was about 5, my mom took me and my two younger sisters to visit a lady who had a pet cougar.

So, as someone who has petted a cougar, I’d be inclined to say those who have not are the ones speaking out of ignorance. It’s not like there isn’t a ton of information available online for anyone interested in curing their ignorance on the topic.

4 million people in the US are attacked by dogs each and every year, but you’d have to go back a hundred years to document a dozen similar incidents involving cougars.

Why not go to Yahoo or Google and spend a few minutes looking up the topic? The only thing you have to lose is your ignorance. I can pretty well guarantee you that within 15 minutes you will find the story told by a person with a gun standing in front of their trophy wall, after having shot an endangered species of cub, to be less than plausable.

In hunting cougars, dogs are used to corner the cat in order to make it as easy to shoot as walking up to a cow. On the other hand, members of the cat family are natures best hunters, with a kill rate of close to 40% once they begin their run at prey. If the cat had been making a run at the dog, the dog would have been dead before the first shot was fired. Dogs are not food animals for cougars. That young a cat would have been interested in something along the lines of rabbit sized prey. Cougars are naturally fantastically shy about all things human. It would take a very strong motive in the way of an easy food supply to attract it to close proximity to human dwellings.

So, a border collie is only twice the size of a 30 pound cub at 55 pounds, rather than nearly three times the size of a regular collie. Whatever. It’s still a distant cousin of the wolf family that cougars DO NOT consider prey.

Having read a rather disgusting 6 page pro cougar hunting article in a shooting magazine recently, my view about cornering them with dogs and shooting them just for grins is a bit colored at the moment.

When I see someone doing a photo op in front of their trophy wall, with their gun, after shooting a baby mountain lion, that was cornered in the yard by their dog, after making a one shot kill typical of an experienced hunter, well… it raises questions in my mind about what needed saving.

Do you know the meaning of “rationalization”. The dictionary calls it a socially acceptable excuse for socially unacceptable behavior. Too many aspects of this story indicate the shooting was rationalized rather than a legitimate response to a clear and present danger.

There are some gray areas to be sure, but when special interests start demonizing a critter in support of recreational hunting of the beastie, a grain of salt is in order. I’m not against hunting, I’m not against guns and I’m not against self defense. There’s a time and a place for all of them. I do have a bit of trouble with shooting baby animals just for grins, especially those that are members of endangered species.

As for the assumption that she merrily plunks away at wildlife, that’s lucidrous! She HAD a .22 to hand and even she didn’t know if that was big enough. I think she sounded kind of desperate, and felt she had to do something. BTW, WHERE does it say that the dog was out of danger at any point. Another fact: Border collies are typically kept for herding, etc., when their owners need help w/ moving stock. NOPE: They WORK on a ranch. Ranchers I’ve known are some of the most respectful of the environment and it’s wildlife of any group I know, but when their stock is threatened or their very valuable working animals, it’s a different matter.

I rather doubt that anyone who cries “poor kitty” would feel the same when suddenly faced w/ the same situation. It’s real scary, and IF you and your CAN get out of the way YOU DO! (In my case it was a bear, and I was on horseback. Horse wasn’t too thrilled either.)

I’d think she had a lot more to do than wang away at anything that moved. It takes a lot of work to run a ranch, and too much money to waste on spare ammo. It’s so nice that so many here can sit in their ivory towers and judge a woman about whom they know nothing and merely pick and choose as they wish on what was reported.

BTW, IF I sound like an “animal hater”, rest assured, I FAR prefer them to humans. I just hate the sentimental, PC stuff I’ve read here (except for some realistic souls), by people who don’t even know enough to know what they don’t know.

I don’t like her wanting to stuff the animal. That’s silly, to say the least, and we don’t even know IF she was quoted correctly. If anyone did go to the original article, you’d find your comments hammered. Even I was startled. I’d still like to know when that radio collar was put on (batteries typically last about a year) and HOW Fish and Wild Live (and Parks?) knew it’s mother was killed “sometime last Fall”.

YUP, I like animals better. Too bad there was a screw up all around and BOTH that lady (you’re still human IF you’re over 30), and the cat lost.

Granny ain’t ambivalent. Just stuff the critter for the museum, and git the bigger gun out next time.