Alabama woman killed by pack of canines; proprietor 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 last week as she was responding to a report about another attack involving the identical canines earlier in the week, the Franklin County Sheriff's Workplace said Friday on Facebook.

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 stated. Officers found the automobile with Beard's body inside it in a rural area outdoors Purple Bay, close to the Mississippi line, based on the Facebook submit.

Beard is believed to have been trying to contact the canine's owner — whom the sheriff's office identified as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the canines 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 Division. It reported that on Friday morning, she was following up on an incident earlier within the week during which the canine attacked a lady who was walking. The woman stays hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived on the scene, a number of dogs started attacking the residents, causing one of them to sustain minor accidents and a few of the canines to be euthanized instantly, the sheriff's workplace said. Officers then found Beard's body in the car, the sheriff's workplace mentioned.

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

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office could not instantly be reached for remark.

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