A woman from Northern California is lucky to be alive thanks to her 2-year-old Belgian Sheperd who saved her from a mountain lion attack.
"I don't think I will ever be able to live up to how amazing and loyal she is to me," Erin Wilson told The Sacramento Bee while speaking about her dog Eva, who is now recovering from serious injuries following the incident that took place on Monday.
Wilson, 24, of Trinity County, explained that she and Eva hopped into her pickup truck and drove to the Trinity River to relax and enjoy the afternoon when the mountain lion appeared and lunged at her.
The cat's claws scratched her shoulder through her jacket, but before it could do any further harm, Eva attacked the animal. At 55 pounds, the dog was quickly outmatched by the cougar.
"They fought for a couple seconds, and then I heard her start crying," Wilson said. "That’s when the cat latched on to her skull."
Wilson did everything she could to try and wrestle the mountain lion off Eva but was unsuccessful. So she ran to her pickup truck that was parked near the highway and flagged a passing motorist, Sharon Houston, who stopped and grabbed her own weapons— a four-foot length of PVC pipe and some pepper spray.
The pair ran back to where the mountain lion was dragging Eva off the trail and Houston used pepper spray to chase the cat away. Wilson then ran back to her truck with Eva and raced to an emergency vet clinic an hour-and-a-half drive away.
Speaking with SFGATE, Wilson's husband, Connor Kenny, said Eva had experienced seizures on the hour-long trip to the vet, and sustained two fractures to her skull, a punctured sinus cavity and severe damage to the left eye. Initially, they were unsure that she would pull through but in an Instagram post shared a day later, Wilson said Eva was recovering well and could return home soon.
In the meantime, Wilson has set up a GFundMe page to help raise funds to cover Eva's veterinary bills.
"My dog is my hero and I owe her my life," Wilson wrote.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.