Alabama lady killed by pack of canines; owner charged with manslaughter

An worker of the Alabama Division of Public Well being was killed by a pack of dogs within the northwestern a part of the state final week as she was responding to a report about another attack involving the identical canine earlier in the week, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office said Friday on Fb.

Jacqueline Summer Beard was pronounced lifeless Friday by the Franklin County coroner after native residents known as the police to report a suspicious automobile, the sheriff's workplace stated. Officers discovered the automotive with Beard's physique inside it in a rural space exterior Purple Bay, close to the Mississippi line, in keeping with the Fb submit.

Beard is believed to have been making an attempt to contact the canine's proprietor — whom the sheriff's office recognized as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the dogs killed her, the sheriff's office mentioned.

AL.com, the website of several Alabama newspapers, reported that Beard was a 58-year-old environmental supervisor and a longtime worker of the Public Well being Division. It reported that on Friday morning, she was following up on an incident earlier within the week wherein the canine attacked a lady who was walking. The woman remains hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived at the scene, a number of canine began attacking the residents, inflicting one among them to sustain minor accidents and some of the dogs to be euthanized immediately, the sheriff's office said. Officers then discovered Beard's body within the car, the sheriff's workplace stated.

Dowdy was charged with manslaughter and is being held without bail, public records show.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Workplace could not instantly be reached for comment.

The Public Well being Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.