i think the owner was watching the dog play in the backyard, and the mountain lion jumped (leaped with a feline grace, i love big cats) over the fence and attacked before running off. most people wouldn't stand up to a big cat, we still have those instinctive fears (of tooth and claw) but we no longer have the common knowledge to confront them. i would have grabbed a lawn chair and chased it, but most people respond with flight not fight. dogs are closer to their instincts in my opinion. they are not as dependent on technology as we are. there was a show, i think on national geographic channel Aftermath: Population Zero http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/aftermath-population-zero-3225 and that mentioned that dogs would die off for the most part, especially since we breed weakness into them, and cats would proliferate. at least most cats remember how to hunt.
Fuck yeas!!! i have an RWS model 52 Airgun, .22 caliber. reviews online said that it'd be possible to take out a buttonbuck. i've killed squirrels several times (sorry orison, lol) and i've killed a few ravens/blackbirds.
We had a stray cat get into our warehouse at work a few months ago, we thought it was gone till one day my boss came in and the cat had taken a shit on her desk. And I saw a fox a couple weeks ago on the ski mountain night skiing. It was pretty cool cuz I don't see them all too often.