His name sure fits him.
At 14, Hemi the husky, malamute, lab cross tangled with a cougar and lived.
He certainly proved he鈥檚 strong like a Hemi.
Hemi is one of three dogs of owner Laurie Lion and her husband who live on a rural property on River Road just outside of Keremeos.
On January 8, Hemi decided to run-off during his last outside time of the evening.
鈥淚t was about 11 p.m. and I was just about to head to bed and he ran-off. I was annoyed but I left the back door open so he could get into the mudroom and went to bed,鈥� Lion said.
A few hours later her husband heard Hemi in the back room and let him in and he curled up into his dog bed on the floor of the couple鈥檚 bedroom.
鈥淗e didn鈥檛 see any blood or anything and the dog just went to sleep. In the morning Mike said Hemi is bleeding and that鈥檚 when we first knew something happened.鈥�
The Lion鈥檚 rushed Hemi to the South Valley Veterinary Hospital where he was found to have two giant gashes on his back and several puncture wounds.
鈥淭he gashes were big enough for the vet to open them up and put his hand in there,鈥� said Lion. 鈥淭hey were on an angle that the vet said were consistent with it being a cougar. He treed the cougar and the wounds are from the cougar swiping down.Hemi is lucky because none of his muscles were cut. If they were he wouldn鈥檛 have made it back to the house.鈥�
Hemi received 47 stitches and had several drains put in. He鈥檚 on a variety of antibiotics and has unfortunately pulled out his stitches several times although at this point his wounds aren鈥檛 infected.
鈥淗e鈥檚 very lucky,鈥� she said.
Lion said there was no evidence that the incident happened on her property. She鈥檚 heard rumours that her husband went out and shot the cougar but said that isn鈥檛 true.
鈥淗e did not do that. I just want to set that straight,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I want to suggest that other people keep their animals leashed. The large cats are down because their normal prey is burrowing in because of the cold weather, that鈥檚 what I鈥檝ebeen told.鈥�
Many large cats including bob
cats, lynx and cougars have been spotted in the Lower Simillkameen and other communities.
Conservation officers in Penticton euthanized three juvenile cougars on Monday because they did not respond to hazing techniques and there was no other place to relocate them. If they were put back up in the mountains they would starve.
Jim Beck, a sergeant with the Conservation Officer Service, said putting the animals down wasn鈥檛 something they wanted to do, but the cougars鈥� behaviour was becoming more bold over the weekend, after the animals had spent Friday afternoon under a deck near Columbia Elementary school.
鈥淲e located the kill that we thought were keeping them in this area,鈥� said Beck. 鈥淚t was located right in somebody鈥檚 yard down in an excavated hole for footings.鈥�
That kill was removed in hopes of encouraging the family to move on, but the cougars continued to stay in the east Penticton area.
鈥淥ur concerns for public safety were definitely ramped up due to activity level,鈥� said Beck. 鈥淲e pushed her out once and then she made a stalking attempt on someone鈥檚 dog.
