An employee of the Alabama Department of Public Health died Friday after she was attacked by a pack of dogs, the authorities said.
The Franklin County sheriff’s office identified the employee as Jacqueline Summer Beard. She was 58 and lived in Muscle Shoals.
Deputies found her body while investigating on Crumpton Road in a rural area south of the northwest Alabama town of Red Bay, near the Mississippi state line.
Shannon Oliver, the sheriff of Franklin County, told AL.com Beard was apparently in the area to follow up on a dog attack that happened earlier in the week.
In that previous attack, a woman was walking when a pack of dogs mauled her. Oliver said that woman remains hospitalized in Mississippi.
“She was in pretty serious condition,” he said.
Authorities said they believe Beard went to do her follow-up visit on Friday morning.
Oliver said health officials typically follow up after dog attacks because of the health threat posed by rabies.
At about 6 p.m., deputies went to Crumpton Road to investigate a report of a suspicious vehicle and found Beard’s body.
While they were on the scene, deputies said, several of the same dogs that attacked Beard and the other woman began attacking local residents. One person suffered minor injuries.
“It is believed that Beard was attacked as she was attempting to contact the dog’s owner when she was killed by the dogs,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Deputies arrested Brandy Dowdy, the owner of the dogs, and charged her with manslaughter. Franklin County jail records show the 29-year-old is held without bail set.
Oliver said there were seven dogs. Some were euthanized immediately, according to the sheriff’s office.
