Boulder man under fire for killing cougar that attacked puppy

BOULDER — "Only stars and the glimmer from a 140-pound mountain lion's fierce gaze provided light in the midnight darkness of Boulder County's foothills for Jeremy Kocar to cock and aim his rifle.

Still, Kocar said his eyes adjusted "quick enough" when the cougar looked up from the puppy in its clutches.

"I took the shot, and that was the end of it," said Kocar, 31, who now finds himself facing possible criminal charges for shooting the adult male lion.

It's been three days since Kocar said he saved his family's Rottweiler-Labrador mix, Duke — and possibly his own life — by shooting the lion that attacked the 8-month-old puppy. But, Kocar said, it will be much longer before he's able to get over the moment he stared down the cat as it crouched in a "pouncing" position.

"That's one thing you don't ever want," Kocar said Monday while standing outside the trailer that he, his wife and their two children are living in near Nederland. "You don't want to come face-to-face with a lion."

The Colorado Division of Wildlife confiscated the cougar that Kocar killed at approximately 1:30 a.m. Friday in a clearing east of Gross Reservoir. Wildlife officers are reviewing the shooting, and DOW spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said her agency is "investigating what will happen to the person who shot the lion."

"We do have laws that allow people to protect their safety and their livestock," Churchill said. "But this is the tricky gray area of it being a dog."**

According to Colorado law, it's legal "to trap, kill or otherwise dispose of bears, mountain lions or dogs in situations when it is necessary to prevent them from inflicting death or injury to livestock or human life."

That's exactly what Kocar said he was doing when the lion tucked Duke under his belly, as if "it was protecting its kill," and turned its attention to Kocar.

"I'm from Wisconsin — and we take care of things there," Kocar said.

Kocar, his wife, Angela Kocar, 25, and their children — Alena, 4, and Jacob, 8 months — are living out of a trailer parked in a mountain clearing near Nederland while they work on a wildfire mitigation project for West Range Reclamation.

Until the attack, the Kocars said they had heard little about mountain lions, and every night they'd chain their two puppies — Duke and Taffy, a blue heeler — outside the trailer.

They won't do that anymore, Angela Kocar said.

She was the first person to hear — and then see — the lion's teeth around her dog's neck early Friday. As her husband slept, Angela Kocar said she heard a growl and a yelp that she thought was a raccoon.

She grabbed a flashlight, pulled on her shoes and ran out to break up the fight. What she saw, though, was far from a small-animal scrap.

"I came within 10 feet of the cat that was standing there with the dog in its mouth," she said. "I froze and dropped the flashlight."

Her husband, annoyed that the dog had woken him up, came out and picked up the light. Angela Kocar said she ran inside to be with her children and to watch from the trailer's window.

Jeremy Kocar said he confronted the lion, shouting and waving his arms in the air. The lion responded like something out of a "wildlife documentary," he said.

"He was thrashing the dog in its mouth," he said.

Angela Kocar added: "He was whipping the dog around trying to get it off the chain."

"He was not leaving here without the dog," she said. "And he wasn't afraid of us at all."

After her husband shot the lion, Angela Kocar drove five miles to where she could get reception on her cell phone and called 911. Jeremy Kocar stayed at the trailer and attended to the dog that he thought was dead.

He said he cautiously walked up to the motionless lion and lifted its paw off the puppy.

"I said, 'Come on, Duke,' but I thought he had snapped his spine," he said.

When the dog leapt to his feet, Jeremy Kocar said he was stunned.

"He jumped up, shook himself off, and his tail was waggin'," he said.

Duke has been treated for head-to-toe bruises and multiple slashes. He has 50 stitches, and Angela Kocar said, "The vet said he was damn lucky."

Since the shooting, the couple said about 20 neighbors have stopped by say "thank you," making the Kocars feel like "little celebrities." Numerous area residents said they suspect the slain lion is responsible for killing a pet miniature horse Sept. 2 and a couple's 60-pound Australian shepherd Sept. 27, and attacking several other pets in the neighborhood.

Division of Wildlife officers said lab tests on the lion might provide clues as to whether the animal can be linked to other attacks. Wildlife officers in September tried to capture and euthanize a mountain lion after it killed a miniature horse, but traps weren't successful in snagging the cat.

Angela Kocar said her neighbors "have been living in terror up here."

"So we've had nothing but gratitude," she said. "One woman brought Duke homemade dog treats and a turkey loaf."

Neighbor Scott Johnson, 46, said it's sad such a beautiful animal was killed.

"But I feel safe now," he said."

** Translation: When the letter of the law conflicts with the spirit of the law and law enforcement is struck dumb and clueless when asked to decipher what it all really means. Yes. We give these men guns and ask them to protect US. Can't make this stuff up either.