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

An employee of the Alabama Division of Public Well being was killed by a pack of canines within the northwestern part of the state final week as she was responding to a report about one other assault involving the identical dogs earlier within 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 native residents called the police to report a suspicious vehicle, the sheriff's office mentioned. Officers found the automobile with Beard's body inside it in a rural space exterior Pink Bay, close to the Mississippi line, according to the Fb submit.

Beard is believed to have been trying to contact the canine's owner — whom the sheriff's workplace recognized as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the canines killed her, the sheriff's workplace said.

AL.com, the web site of several 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 in which the dogs attacked a woman who was walking. The woman remains hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived at the scene, several canine began attacking the residents, inflicting one in every of them to sustain minor accidents and a number of the canine to be euthanized immediately, the sheriff's workplace stated. Officers then discovered Beard's body within the automotive, the sheriff's office stated.

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

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

The Public Health Department didn't immediately respond to a request for remark.