'She could hear her baby dying right in front of her': Mountain lion kills dog in Simi Valley

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - A Simi Valley neighborhood is on edge after a mountain lion attacked two dogs, killing one.

The attack happed just before 2:30 Thursday morning on Evening Sky Drive.

According to the brother of the woman whose dog, Pumba, was killed, his sister decided to take her 6-year-old miniature Schnauzer out for a potty break before bed when they spotted the large cat.

“As she was walking out the door, she saw the mountain lion, and the dog charged the mountain lion and the mountain lion bit the dog, and she jumped on top of the mountain lion and was trying to pry its jaws open to save her dog," said Brian, who declined to provide his last name. "She kept trying to stop the mountain lion from killing the dog for all she could, she said she was punching it and kneeing it in the head and trying to pry its jaws open and it just wouldn’t let go – the whole time she could hear her baby dying right in front of her, and there was nothing she could do."

Once Pumba was killed, Brian said the mountain lion became aware of his sister, growling at her. She ran back into her home as quickly as she could.

The unidentified woman suffered a minor cut, her brother said.

The big cat was first spotted Wednesday morning in the Indian Hills neighborhood near Pawnee Court and Seneca Place. A second dog was reportedly attacked in this area. That dog survived and was taken to the vet for treatment. 

There had been multiple reports of a mountain lion spotted in the Indian Hills neighborhood over the past few days. 

Fish and Wildlife officers believe the cat is an 8-year-old female mountain lion whose tracking device stopped working two years ago.

Representatives from the department will be out in the neighborhood to advise residents on how to deal with these cats and other wild animals.

FOX 11's Stephanie Stanton contributed to this report.