Legal Kill? Utah Man Shoots Mountain Lion to Save Neighbor’s Pet

By Jenn Jacques

A Cedar Fort, UT man said he felt compelled to draw his weapon and shoot a 150-pound mountain lion that was attacking his neighbor’s 10-year-old black lab Thursday night.

“I’ve lived here all my life and that was the first cougar I’ve ever seen in town,” said witness Ken Strickland.

“He had that poor old dog down and pretty well chewed up,” Strickland said. “And he was not scared of nothing; I mean, usually you run into a mountain lion he is going to take off, that one was not going to give up that dog. So I went over to my nephew’s over here because I knew he had a gun right close to the door.”

Strickland’s nephew fired three shots at the cougar. Severely injured, the cat limped down the street into a neighbor’s yard, where it died. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said mountain lions venturing into neighborhoods is uncommon, but this cat was old and in poor health.

“I’m sure because of the poor health of this cougar it probably decided to go after something a little bit easier than deer,” said Scott Root with the Utah DWR.

“If he gets down here like around those kids right there, …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms