Public health worker killed by "pack of dangerous dogs" in Alabama after she went to home to follow up on another dog attack
An Alabama sheriff's office says a public health worker was killed by a "pack of dangerous dogs" after she went to a home to follow up on a report about dogs attacking and injuring another person days earlier.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office said the dogs' owner, Brandy Dowdy, 39, has been charged with manslaughter. Jail records on Sunday did not show whether she is represented by an attorney.
Oliver said deputies on Friday saw several dogs attacking people south of Red Bay, and that led to one person suffering minor injuries and to some dogs being euthanized.
Deputies were in the area to investigate an unknown vehicle and they found the body of Jacqueline Summer Beard, an Alabama Department of Public Health employee. Oliver said Beard was there because of a dog attack earlier in the week that sent someone to a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, with injuries.
The sheriff said investigators believe the dogs attacked Beard as she tried contacting their owner. Red Bay is in northern Alabama, on the Mississippi state line.
The sheriff's office said Dowdy will also face charges for violating Alabama's dangerous dog law, called Emily's Law. The law was named in memory of Emily Colvin, who was killed by dogs outside her home in Jackson County in 2017. The law provides for felony and misdemeanor charges depending on the circumstances surrounding a dangerous dog attack.
The incident comes about 10 weeks after a dog attacked two women at a Florida animal shelter, killing one and leaving the other injured.