Posted on 05/08/2009 10:43:03 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Dog owner William Morse, his wife Kandy and their dog Hogie were out for a walk along a trail in the Cleveland National Forest Tuesday when "out of nowhere a mountain lion just charged us, attacked us, and my dog saved our life, saved me and my wife's life."
The black shepherd-mix dog, named Hogie, was severely injured in Tuesday's noon incident but was expected to recover following surgery at a Riverside County veterinary hospital.
On Wednesday, state officials with the California Department of Fish and Game released statements that contradicted Morse’s accounts. In the new scenarios, Hogie was the aggressor and the mountain lion was provoked. Fish and Game Lt. Dan Sforza told the Orange County Register that the big cat likely acted in self-defense. "It doesn't look like the lion was interested in the dog as a meal," Sforza told the newspaper. "It was just defending itself.
Sforza said investigators believe the animals apparently spotted one another at the same time, and the lion started to run off, chased by the dog, contrary to what the dog's owner claimed.
State wildlife officials said they found no blood, hair or tracks at the site and they're not clear what type of animal attacked the dog.
Morse told The Californian Thursday that he feels betrayed. He said he told state wardens and officials the exact same story and now those same officials are releasing statements that contradict his account. Kandy Morse told the paper she’s also confused by the recent turn of events. Her husband considers the state’s response to be an attempt to quiet any sort of panic that might have been sparked by the report of a mountain lion attack.
As the story has spread on the Internet, people have chimed in to blame the Morses for the incident. If Hogie had been leashed as required by state law, some neighbors of the Morses believe, there wouldn’t have been a problem.
"What should (Hogie) have done?" William Morse asked. "Waited until the cat attacked me?"
Were they there?
Nope?
Then they can STFU.
Little wonder that a lot of people despise the authorities.
They interviewed the lion?
The greenie psychos would prefer Morse to have been killed..
Anyone who knows anything about mountain lions knows this is utter crap.
Note, this was a state guy who made this comment...not a Fed guy. When you typically talk about a fish and game guy...he usually got there with some kind of degree in biology or earth sciences....which means very little in terms of animal behavior. I remember the state fish and game guy in my home county in Alabama in the mid-1970s...who spent 30 hours of his forty weekly hours...just fishing in the state-provided boat on the lake.
I’m not certain about one thing. What difference does it make who attacked who?
There is a chance that the dog did start it, without seeing evidence you can’t say what happened.
Fish and Game Lt. Dan Sforza = idoit
A few years ago a mountain lion attacked a woman bicyclist in CA. They ended up killing the mountain lion. I distincly remember hearing of two charitable funds set up — one for the woman and one for the mountain lion. The mountain lion fund was triple the woman fund.
“State wildlife officials said they found no blood, hair or tracks at the site and they’re not clear what type of animal attacked the dog.”
The blind idiots can’t find any evidence, yet they issue a statement that the people that witnessed the event are lying.
This partially explains the reason that when any government “official” speaks, I assume their either lying or ignorant.
Mt. loins have recently (last 5 yrs) moved into my part of the country. We see them often and now are getting used to being around, though still a novelty. Just this week a Conservation Agent (who lives here!) stated he has no proof they live in our area and urged people to report any sightings. The farmers/locals don’t report sightings any longer because they don’t like gubberment guys trampling on their land and then calling them liars. I’m certain some the the cougars have falling to the shoot, shovel, shut up fate...I’d sure like to add one of those hides to my collection.
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