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 within the northwestern a part of the state final week as she was responding to a report about one other assault involving the identical canines earlier within the week, the Franklin County Sheriff's Workplace said 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 car, the sheriff's workplace said. Officers found the automotive with Beard's body inside it in a rural area exterior Purple Bay, near the Mississippi line, in accordance with the Facebook submit.

Beard is believed to have been attempting to contact the canine's owner — whom the sheriff's office recognized as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the canines killed her, the sheriff's workplace said.

AL.com, the web site of a number of Alabama newspapers, reported that Beard was a 58-year-old environmental supervisor and a longtime employee of the Public Well being Division. It reported that on Friday morning, she was following up on an incident earlier in the week through which the dogs attacked a girl who was walking. The woman remains hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived on the scene, several dogs started attacking the residents, inflicting certainly one of them to maintain minor injuries and some of the canine to be euthanized instantly, the sheriff's office mentioned. Officers then found Beard's body in the automotive, the sheriff's office mentioned.

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

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

The Public Health Department didn't immediately respond to a request for remark.