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

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

Jacqueline Summer Beard was pronounced dead Friday by the Franklin County coroner after native residents referred to as the police to report a suspicious car, the sheriff's office mentioned. Officers discovered the car with Beard's body inside it in a rural space outdoors Red Bay, near the Mississippi line, in accordance with the Facebook put up.

Beard is believed to have been trying to contact the dog's owner — whom the sheriff's office identified as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the canines killed her, the sheriff's office 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 in the week wherein the canine attacked a woman who was walking. The girl stays hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived at the scene, a number of dogs began attacking the residents, inflicting one in every of them to maintain minor accidents and among the canines to be euthanized immediately, the sheriff's office said. Officers then discovered Beard's physique within the car, the sheriff's workplace said.

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

The Franklin County Sheriff's Workplace could not instantly be reached for comment.

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