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

An employee of the Alabama Division of Public Well being was killed by a pack of canines in the northwestern a part of the state last week as she was responding to a report about one other attack involving the identical canines earlier in the week, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office said Friday on Facebook.

Jacqueline Summer time Beard was pronounced lifeless Friday by the Franklin County coroner after native residents referred to as the police to report a suspicious vehicle, the sheriff's office stated. Officers discovered the automobile with Beard's physique inside it in a rural area exterior Red Bay, close to the Mississippi line, in accordance with the Facebook post.

Beard is believed to have been making an attempt to contact the dog's owner — whom the sheriff's workplace identified as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the canines killed her, the sheriff's office stated.

AL.com, the web site of a number of Alabama newspapers, reported that Beard was a 58-year-old environmental supervisor and a longtime worker of the Public Well being Department. It reported that on Friday morning, she was following up on an incident earlier in the week wherein the canines attacked a girl who was walking. The lady stays hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived on the scene, a number of canines began attacking the residents, causing one among them to sustain minor injuries and among the canines to be euthanized immediately, the sheriff's office mentioned. Officers then found Beard's body within the automobile, the sheriff's workplace mentioned.

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

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office could not immediately be reached for remark.

The Public Well being Department didn't instantly respond to a request for remark.