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

An worker of the Alabama Division of Public Well being was killed by a pack of canine within the northwestern part of the state last week as she was responding to a report about one other attack involving the same canine earlier in the week, the Franklin County Sheriff's Workplace mentioned Friday on Fb.

Jacqueline Summer Beard was pronounced dead Friday by the Franklin County coroner after local residents called the police to report a suspicious car, the sheriff's office said. Officers discovered the car with Beard's body inside it in a rural area outdoors Crimson Bay, near the Mississippi line, in accordance with the Fb publish.

Beard is believed to have been attempting to contact the canine's proprietor — whom the sheriff's workplace identified as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the canines killed her, the sheriff's workplace mentioned.

AL.com, the website of a number of Alabama newspapers, reported that Beard was a 58-year-old environmental supervisor and a longtime worker of the Public Health Division. It reported that on Friday morning, she was following up on an incident earlier in the week by which the canines attacked a girl who was strolling. The woman remains hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived at the scene, several canines started attacking the residents, inflicting one in all them to sustain minor accidents and among the dogs to be euthanized immediately, the sheriff's workplace said. Officers then found Beard's physique within the car, the sheriff's workplace mentioned.

Dowdy was charged with manslaughter and is being held with out bail, public data show.

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

The Public Well being Department didn't instantly reply to a request for remark.