Desperate woman punches mountain lion as it attacks, later eats dog: 'She could hear her baby dying'

A California woman is mourning the loss of her pet dog after a mountain lion attacked, killed and ate it last week.

According to reports, the Simi Valley resident let her miniature Schnauzer named Pumbaa out in her backyard in the early morning of Dec. 5 to relieve himself. The 6-year-old pup spotted the predator in the yard and tried to chase it off, but the mountain lion attacked the dog and "snapped" it up.

In an attempt to save Pumbaa, the woman pounced on the mountain lion, punching and kneeing it to get it to release her beloved dog.

"She obviously cared about her dog very much, as all dog owners do," said Sgt. Keith Eisenhour to reporters. "She tried to fend the animal off by punching it, elbowing it and tried to pry its jaws open."

The woman's brother also confirmed the attack to reporters at ABC7.

"She got a cut on her finger, and she kept trying to stop the mountain lion from killing the dog for all she could," he said. "She said she was punching it and kneeing it in the head and trying to pry its jaws open, and it just wouldn't let go. The whole time she could hear her baby dying."

The woman retreated inside once the mountain lion became aggressive towards her. She called the police, who arrived to find the mountain lion seemingly eating the dog. Officials had planned to use a bean-bag shotgun on the animal, but it left before wildlife officials arrived on the scene.

According to Simi Valley Police Department, other residents in the area have reported mountain lion attacks on their pets. On Dec. 4, a Havanese named Sammy was also attacked and is still recovering from the injuries.