Opinion: The mountain lion was framed

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What could be more touching than the story of the heroic dog that defended its owners Tuesday from a marauding mountain lion in Cleveland National Forest? The tale is repeated all over the web, and in a brief in today’s Times. If only the cougar hadn’t been slandered.

‘There’s no question the dog saved [the owner’s] life,’ said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino. Adding to the ‘awww’ factor, the owner had saved the dog from euthanasia.

Actually, there’s quite a bit of question. According to the state Department of Fish and Game, the story was a little different on second telling. The owners said they were walking at Blue Jay Campground, a camping spot popular with families but closed at the time of this incident, when they and their dog, a labrador mix, spotted the mountain lion by a restroom. The mountain lion ran away, the dog took off after it and attacked, and the mountain lion injured the dog in the ensuing fight.

That sounds a little more typical of mountain lion behavior; they’re not usually given to attacking humans, especially when two or more people are together, and especially when there’s a dog around.

But who knows what really happened? Investigators could find no cougar pawprints, no hairs, no signs of a mountain lion at all. That’s odd, considering that the location was well known and this wasn’t just a lion in flight, but one in a fight. Confusion between mountain lions and bobcats is pretty common among casual hikers. Fish and Game has called off its search for a mountain lion. Call me a puma-hugger, but some innocent animal out there was in grave danger of losing its life to the story of the heroic dog (although the dog might have had every intention of protecting its owners). The dog underwent surgery, and a veterinarian’s report might shed light on whether this was or wasn’t a lion.

By the way, what was the dog doing off the leash to start with? That’s prohibited in the forest; dogs can do a lot of harm to wildlife. No one seems to be pursuing the question -- it’s more romantic when the story is about renegade cougars instead of leash laws.

* Photo by Associated Press