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

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

Jacqueline Summer Beard was pronounced lifeless Friday by the Franklin County coroner after native residents referred to as the police to report a suspicious car, the sheriff's workplace said. Officers discovered the car with Beard's body inside it in a rural space outside Purple Bay, close to the Mississippi line, in response to the Facebook submit.

Beard is believed to have been making an attempt to contact the canine's owner — whom the sheriff's office identified as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the canine 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 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 stays hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived on the scene, several canine started attacking the residents, causing one in every of them to maintain minor accidents and some of the canine to be euthanized instantly, the sheriff's workplace mentioned. Officers then discovered Beard's body within the car, the sheriff's workplace said.

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

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

The Public Health Department didn't instantly reply to a request for comment.