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

An worker of the Alabama Department of Public Well being was killed by a pack of canine in the northwestern part of the state final week as she was responding to a report about one other assault involving the same canine earlier within the week, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office stated Friday on Facebook.

Jacqueline Summer Beard was pronounced lifeless Friday by the Franklin County coroner after native residents called the police to report a suspicious vehicle, the sheriff's office said. Officers discovered the automobile with Beard's physique inside it in a rural space outdoors Crimson Bay, near the Mississippi line, in accordance with the Fb put up.

Beard is believed to have been trying to contact the dog's proprietor — whom the sheriff's office recognized as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the dogs killed her, the sheriff's workplace stated.

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 through which the canines attacked a girl who was strolling. The woman stays hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived on the scene, several dogs started attacking the residents, inflicting one in every of them to sustain minor accidents and a number of the canine to be euthanized immediately, the sheriff's office said. Officers then discovered Beard's body within the automotive, the sheriff's workplace said.

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

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office couldn't instantly be reached for comment.

The Public Well being Division did not immediately respond to a request for remark.