A Canadian man punched a cougar in the face to stop it from attacking his dog in a wooded area near a fast food chain in Whitecourt, central Alberta, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said on Wednesday.
William Gibb, 31, from Red Deer, Alberta, had stopped at a Tim Hortons outlet, a popular Canadian restaurant chain on his 600-kilometer (372-mile) drive to Grand Prairie on the evening of Dec. 26 and let his dog out for a walk, Whitecourt RCMP Sergeant Tom Kalis said.
Shortly after Gibb heard the 80-pound (36-kg) female Husky whimpering in pain and found a cougar pinning it to the ground.
"He punched the cougar, yelled at it and got it to release the dog. Then he called the police," Kalis said. "He was quite lucky."
Gibb kept the cougar at bay and tended to his injured dog until police arrived and killed the cougar. The dog need medical attention but Gibb was not seriously injured, RCMP said.
Kalis said cougar sightings were not uncommon around Whitecourt because the town is surrounded by forests, but it is unusual for cougars to attack dogs or other animals.