Report of attack on cat came in Thursday morning; cougar returned in the afternoon
Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
The “all clear” was given shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday by Rogue Valley Emergency Management in connection with a stand-off with a cougar that attacked a cat in the backyard of residence on Glendale Avenue in Ashland on Thursday afternoon.
The cougar was shot at about 2:40 p.m. Thursday on Glendale Avenue. Authorities “all agreed dispatching the animal was necessary,” Ashland Deputy Chief of Police Dan Moulin said in a text message. It was a state trooper who fired the shot, he said.
The site is about 250 feet from the Siskiyou School at 681 Clay St. Everyone at the school was asked to stay inside during the incident.
Ashland police, Oregon State Police and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officers were at the scene.
After the cougar attacked a pet cat Thursday morning, Ashland police officers later became involved in something of a standoff with the cougar, waiting to see if it would depart town on its own or if it would have to be shot, said Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara.
The cougar was in “somebody’s backyard” on Clay Street where Ashland officers were watching the animal to determine how to proceed and if it could be shot while maintaining safety for bystanders, he said.
The cougar crossed the legal threshold required for shooting it because it had lost what “wildlife folks call its ‘wariness of people,’” O’Meara said. The animal was far into the city, prowling in daylight and attacked a domestic animal.
A call first came into dispatch at 9:48 a.m. Thursday reporting a cougar attacking a domestic animal, he said. At 1:15 p.m., the caller reported the cougar had returned and law enforcement became involved.
This is the third cougar to be shot at during O’Meara’s time as chief, he said. One cougar was shot and killed while another was shot at and escaped.
Bears have been more commonly involved with Ashland law enforcement because they are more common in town, but they also present less of a threat. Bears are omnivorous and can and often do eat vegetarian while cougars are more strictly carnivores.
“That means it may attack us and our pets,” he said.
Sightings of cougars, also known as mountain lions, are not uncommon in Ashland, but usually during nighttime hours, not during the day.
“The APD never seeks to be put in the position of lethally removing an animal,” the department said in a news release issued later Thursday afternoon. “However, given the circumstances noted above, this course was action was clearly the most prudent to safeguard human and domesticated animals’ lives.”
The Ashland Police Department says anyone who observes a cougar and feels there is a danger should call dispatch at 541-776-7206. If there is no apparent danger, a report of the sighting can be submitted via APD’s online wildlife reporting tool at gis.ashland.or.us/cougar/.
Additional information about cougars and other wildlife can be found at dfw.state.or.us/wildlife/living_with/cougars.asp.
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news. Ashland.news Executive Editor Bert Etling contributed to this report; email him at betling@ashland.news or call or text him at 541-631-1313.
