Alabama girl killed by pack of dogs; owner charged with manslaughter

An employee of the Alabama Department 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 another attack involving the identical canine earlier in the week, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office said Friday on Facebook.

Jacqueline Summer Beard was pronounced useless Friday by the Franklin County coroner after local residents called the police to report a suspicious automobile, the sheriff's office stated. Officers discovered the automobile with Beard's physique inside it in a rural space exterior Crimson Bay, close to the Mississippi line, according to the Facebook submit.

Beard is believed to have been attempting to contact the canine's proprietor — whom the sheriff's office recognized as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the dogs killed her, the sheriff's workplace 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 Department. It reported that on Friday morning, she was following up on an incident earlier within the week in which the dogs attacked a lady who was strolling. The girl stays hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived at the scene, several canines started attacking the residents, causing certainly one of them to sustain minor injuries and among the canine to be euthanized immediately, the sheriff's workplace stated. Officers then found Beard's physique within the car, the sheriff's workplace stated.

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

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

The Public Health Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.