75-year-old Jackie Simonson was walking her two dogs along the beach in coastal town of Sayword on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, when two young cougars attacked her eight-year-old Shih Tzu terrier, Teddi.

It was the middle of the day and there was no one around to help her. The two cougars had been hiding in a building when they pounced. Jackie's motherly instincts took over and she kicked at the cougars to get them to let go of Teddi.

"I kicked and I kicked and they wouldn't let go. It was horrible," said Jackie. "All I could see was her dead."

When the cougars ran off with Teddi, Jackie chased after them. Soon after, Teddi managed to break free from their grasp and ran back to Jackie. Covered in Teddi's blood, Jackie then ran to a nearby logging facility to ask for help. The workers drove her to the police station in town.

Corporal Ramsey of Sayward RCMP responded and was forced to destroy the cougars, who appeared to be severely malnourished and less than a year old.

"It is extremely unfortunate for that to have had to happen," said Corporal Ramsey. He said the entire community is saddened by the turn of events. Jackie was sad as well. "I don't want to see a dead or hurt animal. I didn't even want to kick them...that was hard. Hard to hurt an animal, but I had to."

Teddi suffered a broken jaw from her brush with the cougars and will have surgery on Thursday but is otherwise all right.

• cougar
• Sayward
• vancouver island
• mountain lion