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

An employee of the Alabama Department of Public Well being was killed by a pack of canines in the northwestern part of the state final week as she was responding to a report about another assault involving the identical canine earlier in the week, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office stated Friday on Fb.

Jacqueline Summer time Beard was pronounced useless Friday by the Franklin County coroner after local residents referred to as the police to report a suspicious vehicle, the sheriff's office mentioned. Officers discovered the car with Beard's body inside it in a rural space exterior Crimson Bay, close to the Mississippi line, in line with the Fb post.

Beard is believed to have been trying to contact the dog's owner — 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 canine attacked a lady who was walking. The girl stays hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived on the scene, a number of canines started attacking the residents, inflicting considered one of them to maintain minor injuries and a few of the dogs to be euthanized immediately, the sheriff's office said. Officers then found Beard's physique in the automobile, the sheriff's workplace mentioned.

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

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

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