Cougar Starts Charging Toward Age 11 Boy, Until Dog Named 'Angel' Takes His Place
A lot of people view their faithful pet as a guardian angel. Our furry friends comfort us, make us laugh, and stand beside us through thick and thin.
In many cases, they also protect us. Take, for example, an 18-month-old golden retriever in western Canada who recently saved her young owner’s life.
The heroic dog, appropriately enough, is named Angel. She’s a loyal member of the Forman family, who live in Boston Bar — a Canadian town roughly 150 miles northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Sherri Forman said her 11-year-old son Austin recently went outside with Angel around 5:30 p.m. to gather firewood from their backyard. Austin told news sources that he’d noticed his canine companion behaving a little differently than normal.
Instead of romping around and playing in the snow as she often does, noted Austin, Angel was staying close by his side. In hindsight, the Formans now realize that Angel sensed a looming threat to the boy.
Austin himself didn’t perceive the danger at first. And when he ultimately noticed the shadowy form lurking near the woods, then beginning to charge, he thought it was another dog.
“As soon as it went underneath the light,” Austin told media outlets, “I saw that it was a cougar.” In that single terrifying instant, he said, “I knew I had to go inside.”
That’s when Austin’s guardian Angel intervened. Sherri Forman recalled that her son sprinted into the house screaming.
She said that Austin was so distressed, she needed to have him repeat himself several times. It turns out he was frantically yelling, “A cougar is eating Angel!”
Sure enough, when his alarmed mother looked out the window, she could hear their canine whimpering. “To feel so helpless,” she lamented, “I knew I couldn’t do anything.”
But it turns out yet another guardian angel had been nearby as well. And this one saved the life of Angel herself.
Royal Canadian Mountain Police Constable Chad Gravelle was in the area as the violent assault began. As soon as Sherri Forman contacted local authorities, he was on the scene within minutes.
According to news sources, Gravelle heard Angel crying out as the cougar lunged for her neck. Then he discovered the pair under the back deck.
Even after Gravelle fired two rounds directly into the cougar’s haunch, the big cat continued its attack. The officer came within five feet and shot again — yet even though that finally killed the cougar, its powerful jaws remained clamped around Angel’s face.
When the cougar’s body was pulled off Angel, the dog at first appeared lifeless herself. But according to family members, she suddenly inhaled a “big breath of air, and then got up.”
Sherri Forman said the protective pooch immediately “walked to Austin, sniffed him to make sure he was all right, then sat down.” The badly bleeding pup was rushed to the nearby Sardis Animal Hospital and treated by veterinarian Jack Anvik.
And incredibly, though Angel received some painful injuries across her head and neck, her prognosis and spirits are good. “She’s a golden retriever,” Anvik told news sources, “they’re always happy.”
Similarly, Austin is absolutely overjoyed. “I feel very good, now that we know she’s alive,” he said.
According to Austin’s mom, the entire family is immensely thankful for sweet Angel’s selfless bravery. Sherri Forman said that her son was so grateful he “went to town with his grandpa, and bought a huge steak for her.”
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