Dog survives mountain lion attack in backyard of La Verne home

Caught on camera: Dog survives mountain lion attack in La Verne

Wild video out of La Verne show the moments that a dog survived a nearly minute-long mountain lion attack over the weekend. 

The scene unfolded a little before 9 p.m. on Saturday, when Holly, a three-year-old giant schnauzer, was let outside by her owners. It was then that a mountain lion pounced, grappling with the 93-pound dog for 48 seconds. 

Thankfully for Holly, her neighbors were watching and were able to run out back and stark screaming to scare the mountain lion off, allowing the dog to break free. 

The mountain lion can be seen prowling back into the camera's frame about 20 minutes later, presumably looking for its prey. 

Holly survived the attack with a gash in her neck and is back home resting, neighbors say. 

Holly's owners were too shaken up to talk on camera, but others living in the area are sharing video of the attack as a warning to other people in Southern California with children or dogs. 

"it's frightening, because I have this tiny little dog here, a tiny teacup yorkie, and obviously we don't let her out, especially at night," said Monique Olmedo, a neighbor in the area. 

Just 40 miles away in Lake Elsinore, a similar sight, when another mountain lion was caught on camera on Thursday at about 9 p.m.

Valerie Chapman, whose camera caught the feline's early evening prowl, says that while it's exciting to see, its a little scary. 

"Bunnies by the hundreds out here. But, we've never seen a mountain lion, especially this close to our house," Chapman said. "That's why we were a little shocked. Usually, you'd see that in the middle of the night."

There are over 4,500 estimated mountain lions in California, and wildlife officials warn that they'll often slink into neighborhoods in search of food, especially if they can't find enough in their natural habitat. 

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