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Dog who saved California woman from mountain lion attack dies

A dog that saved a California woman’s life after she was attacked by a mountain lion died Wednesday, the animal’s owner said.

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Eva, a 2 1/2-year-old Belgian Malinois, died unexpectedly, Erin Wilson told The Sacramento Bee. Wilson told the newspaper that the 55-pound dog began getting seizures over the weekend and was taken to a veterinarian in Redding.

“We said goodbye. We love you Eva. You’re my whole world.” Wilson wrote on a GoFundMe page for the dog on Wednesday.

Wilson took Eva to the animal hospital at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, according to The Bee. The dog’s condition worsened to the point where veterinarians attempted to put her on a ventilator.

“She just never woke up,” Wilson told the newspaper. “She never woke up.”

Wilson, 24, had been on a short walk with Eva in mid-May in Trinity County, 300 miles north of San Francisco, when the mountain lion attacked Wilson, SFGate.com reported. Eva distracted the big cat and the mountain lion locked its jaws on the 2-year-old dog’s head, according to the website.

>> Good girl: Dog protects owner from mountain lion attack

Wilson attempted to break the mountain lion’s grasp by throwing rocks and sticks, then punching, choking and gouging its eyes, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Capt. Patrick Foy wrote in an email to the website.

The mountain lion kicked Wilson off and scratched her with its back paws. Wilson ran to her pickup truck and grabbed a tire iron, according to The Bee. She flagged down a passing motorist, Sharon Houston, who used pepper spray on the mountain lion as it attempted to drag Eva off the trail.

Wilson was convinced Eva saved her life.

“If (Eva) had waited another second or two more, (the mountain lion) probably would have either jumped up and bit me in the face, in the head and the neck,” Wilson told The Bee late last month.

On Wednesday, Wilson broke the news of Eva’s death on the dog’s Instagram account, which had grown to 20,300 followers after the attack.

“Goodbye my beautiful sweet girl,” Wilson wrote. “You are my world, my light, my best friend. The world is a much darker place.”