CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST
A dog that a Wildomar man once saved from being put to sleep threw himself between his master and a marauding mountain lion at Lake Elsinore on Tuesday.
The dog -- a mixed breed named Hoagie -- and the mountain lion fought a ferocious battle at one of the lake’s campgrounds that saved the man’s life and nearly killed the dog, who was rushed into four hours of surgery, according to authorities.
“There’s no question the dog saved his life,” said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.
The incident occurred about 1 p.m. at the Blue Jay Campground, Amormino said. The man, who was walking with his wife, and Hoagie had walked ahead, when the mountain lion appeared and charged at the man. The dog intervened.
Hoagie was taken to a veterinarian in Wildomar and made it through surgery. Park rangers closed the campground and searched for the mountain lion late Tuesday. The couple were not hurt.
-- Sam Quinones
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