Residents in the Tri-Cities are being advised to keep their pets and children close to them as the number of cougar encounters in the area continues to rise.
On Saturday, a two-month-old pug was snatched and killed by a cougar, the Conservation Officer Service confirmed.
“The cougar came out and snatched it and ran off with it,” Alicia Stark with the Conservation Officer Service said.
They believe the same cougar approached a man walking a dog later in the day and the man scared it off.
Stark said they have two areas of cougar activity in the area and a trap set in the Smiling Creek area. Burke Mountain and Hyde Creek are also seeing a lot of cougar activity.
“This time of year we are used to seeing an increase in sightings, but the two dogs that have been attacked are of concern for us,” Stark added.
Officers believe there are numerous cougars roaming around in the area.
Coquitlam resident Tiffany Schiller recorded a large cougar on her doorbell camera walking through her townhouse complex on Sunday morning.
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“It was unnerving. She was huge and didn’t seem to be in a rush, she was just sauntering around in the daylight,” Schiller told Global News.
She said she’s seen bears but never a cougar walking around the area in the daytime.
Schiller added that they’ve spoken to her young daughters about animal safety and living with wildlife and how it’s important to look out for each other.
“We talk about bear education a lot and what to do but I don’t think we talk as much about cougars so I think that would be beneficial to everybody,” she said.
- with files from Sarah MacDonald.
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