OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — A couple camping near the Dukabush River Trail in Olympic National Park says their dog was attacked by a cougar on Friday night.
Lucas and Kathryn Rogers tell KIRO 7 News that at around 7 p.m., they were setting up camp for the night about a half mile from the park boundary when they heard their Labradoodle barking at something through the trees.
“He started barking…I walked out to the trail, looked around, didn’t hear anything, didn’t see anything. I was probably about 100 yards from camp,” Lucas said.
“Then I hear my wife screaming…I had no clue what was going on. I come running back and looked over and saw our dog pinned to the ground by a cougar,” he said.
As avid backpackers, the couple says they had never had an encounter with an animal like this before.
“I had this fast reaction and kicked it as hard as I could…and it took off,” Lucas said.
Kathryn checked on their dog and found he was bleeding from multiple bite wounds and scratches. They wrapped bandages around the dog, and say his injuries have begun to improve, but he is still traumatized from the attack.
The couple says the encounter will not stop them from camping in the future but will have tools close by to protect themselves going forward.
“It’s not going to deter us from going out…we’re just going to have some defense mechanisms there so that if the unfortunate happens again, we will have something to defend against,” Lucas said.
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