Mountain lion shot and killed after attacking sheep in Napa

NAPA, Calif. (KGO) -- Some members of a North Bay community are outraged after a man shot a mountain lion that had attacked two sheep. The mountain lion had a tracking device on it after it was captured following a different attack.

Patricia Damery says Dasher was the queen goat of the herd, always looking out for the others. She suspects that's was Dasher was doing the night a mountain lion attacked.

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"I'm sure she went after the mountain lion there were scratches on her nose and a bite in her neck," said Damery.

Dasher didn't survive. Damery called Fish and Wildlife and a US Department of Agriculture trapper planned to capture the mountain lion.

"I knew it was going to be a death sentence but I didn't know what else to do," said Damery.

A friend suggested she call Audubon Canyon Ranch instead. Zoologist Dr. Quinton Martins responded.

"They educated me about how to keep my animals safe, how to keep myself safe and my grandchildren," said Damery.

Damery moved the rest of her animals off her land until she could secure their living areas. They also set a different trap for the mountain lion and put a GPS collar on him.

"He was a young dispersing male. He had left his mom recently and was quite lean," said Martins. That meant he'd be looking for prey again.

"We didn't know what he was going to kill," said Martins.

At a nearby Redwood Road property the mountain lion killed two sheep on two consecutive nights. On the third night, the land owners shot and killed it.

"I was very sad for the mountain lion, but I'm also sad by the reaction by our community toward the people because I was almost there myself," said Damery.

"When you feel like your children and your livestock are being so threatened you want to protect them," she continued.

ABC7 News was not able to reach the land owners.

"I think often the land owners don't know better in these cases," said Martins.

Damery says that was true for her.

"The reason that goat was killed was my fault. I had not secured the door," said Damery.

She's hopeful the community will come together to help this family secure their sheep and keep them safe at night rather than shaming them for their actions.