'My husband was hitting to kill': Dog survives eagle attack

Sonia Doucet-Daigle knew something was wrong when she heard faint cries coming from outside her home.

At about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday,the Beresford woman let her 12-year-old dog Samson out of the house.

Just as Doucet-Daigle turned her head to startthe dryer,the 6-pound Bichon Frise-Pomeranian was attacked by a large eagle.

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"I just heard him scream," DoucetDaigle said in an interview from her home in Gloucester County. "I knew right away something was wrong."

She rushed out into the pitch black night, knowing her dog had no way of defending himself.

"I could just see Samson's eyes," she said. "He was covered by an animal."

At first she thought the animal was a lynx, andshe kicked at it.

"I remember thinking, 'This is a huge cat.' I didn't even care for my own safety."

Bird huntingits prey

But when she got a little closer, she realized the animal was a large, black eagle, about 1.2 metres with its wings spread open.

The birdwas attacking Samson for food, she said.

He would've flown away with my dog and I wasn't going to let that happen.- Sonia Doucet-Daigle

"I punched him maybe 10, 20 times," she said. "I didn't want to waste a moment."

But the bird wouldn't letgo.

Doucet-Daiglethen called out to her husband, Gilles Daigle, who quickly grabbed a shovel and hit the bird about five times.

That gave Doucet-Daigleenough time to grab Samson, ripping a patch of skin from his head as she did.

"My husband was hitting to kill," she said. "It took a lot. He [the bird] still had Samson in his claws."

Doucet-Daiglesaid the eagle was likely injured in the attack, which lasted about 30 seconds.

"He would've flown away with my dog and I wasn't going to let that happen," she said.

The attack wounds

Samson suffered seven puncture wounds on oneside, a bloody eye andear, and a large bite inside his mouth. He lost several teeth and someskin from the top of his head.

On Monday morning, Doucet-Daigle took him to the vet, where she was told the wounds could affect hisvital organs.

She was worried Samson wouldn'tmake it, but after the antibiotics kicked in and with a lot of extra sleep, the dog is returning to his old self.

"Yesterday his tail started to wag and he's getting some life in him again," Doucet-Daiglesaid.

Another survivor

This isn't the first attackin the area. Matt Richard shared a Facebook post on Monday abouthis dog Bellasurviving an attack by aneagle.

Barry Rothfuss, executive director of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute near Sackville, said eagles are big predators, and aggressivebehaviour is not uncommon at this time of year.

Food sources are scarce because the ground is still covered in snow.

"They're not going to delineatebetween an animal with or without a collar on them," Rothfuss said. "As terrible as it sounds, they're just behaving normally."

Following the food

Eagles are also nestingthis time of year and pet owners need to be careful when letting cats and dogs outside.

"They're opportunists," he said of the raptors. "They go where the food is."

Doucet-Daigle, who reported the incident to the RCMP, has been warningother pet owners to keep their animalsinside and avoid leaving them alone until the bird is captured or destroyed.

"At this point it's a danger," she said. "It's a very ferocious bird and it's hunting."

Now when Samson has to go outside, the dog is never alone.

Doucet-Daigledresses him in a bright orange outfit to discourage another attack, and she accompanies himwith a hammer in hand.

"I'm even scared for my own safety," she said.