Alabama woman killed by pack of canines; proprietor charged with manslaughter

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

Jacqueline Summer time 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 office said. Officers found the automotive with Beard's physique inside it in a rural space outside Red Bay, close to the Mississippi line, in accordance with the Fb publish.

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 office 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 Department. It reported that on Friday morning, she was following up on an incident earlier in the week in which the dogs attacked a girl who was strolling. The lady stays hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived on the scene, a number of canines started attacking the residents, inflicting one of them to maintain minor accidents and some of the canine to be euthanized immediately, the sheriff's workplace mentioned. Officers then discovered Beard's body in the automobile, the sheriff's office said.

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

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

The Public Well being Division didn't immediately respond to a request for remark.