LAS VEGAS — Pets are part of the family, so Cecilia Celis didn't hesitate when it came time to protect her family pup.
Celis says she let Lulu the toy Yorkie, a two-pound puppy that isn't even a year old yet, out the back door, KVVU-TV reports.
She didn't realize a red-tailed hawk had been watching her and Lulu from a distance until it got a little too up close and personal.
“It waits a little and then it swoops on her,” Celis told KVVU. “We just let them out, and then the bird swoops in drags her and is like choking her, it stood on her.”
Celis showed the local station the home security footage of the attack, including the bird fighting the pup before dragging and hovering over her.
She said she yelled at the hawk first, trying to shoo it away before she decided she needed to do more since the bird of prey seemed unfazed.
Daily Mail reports Celis grabbed a large sofa cushion and started to swing at the bird, hitting it three times before it released its grip on the pup.
The hawk left claw marks on Lulu's neck, but the Yorkie pup is expected to be ok.
Animal control was called but the hawk had already flown away by the time they arrived, according to the Daily Mail.
Now the family is using it as a warning for other pet owners.
"At first, we thought our backyard was the safest place for them," Celis told KVUU-TV.
The family says they always keep the doors open and keep an eye on Lulu and her sister Yorkie, like a hawk.
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