Alabama Public Health Inspector Killed by 'Dangerous Dogs' while Investigating Dog Attack

Red Bay, AL (WorkersCompensation.com) – Officials in rural Red Bay, Ala., say a state employee investigating a dog attack has died after being attacked by a pack of dogs.   

According to a Facebook post from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Jacqueline Summer Beard, 58, was found dead after deputies received a call about a suspicious vehicle near a rural road in Red Bay. The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) employee was found outside of her car. She was pronounced dead by the coroner on April 29.   

Beard was an environmental specialist with ADPH, and was following up on a reported dog attack from earlier in the week, the sheriff’s office said. Officials believe the same pack of dogs involved in the previous attack, also attacked Beard.   

“When deputies arrived, they were met by residents on Crumpton Road outside of Red Bay,” the sheriff’s office posted. “Several dogs started attacking the residents when deputies were there, and one person received minor injuries. Some of the dogs had to be euthanized immediately.”  

The dogs’ owner, Brandy Dowdy, was arrested and charged with manslaughter and possession of a dangerous dog, a felony under a law called Emily’s Law.   

In 2017, Emily Colvin, the law’s namesake, was killed by a pack of five dogs outside of her home in northeast Alabama. The week before Colvin’s death, a 46-year-old woman was killed by a pack of dogs in Alabama and a second woman was seriously injured.   

According to AL.com, similar attacks have occurred in the state recently. A 36-year-old mother of four was killed by a pack of dogs in 2020, while a 70-year-old man was killed by dogs in 2021.   

The sheriff’s office said the week before Beard’s attack, a pack of dogs had mauled a woman on Crumpton Road while she was walking. That woman remains hospitalized, the sheriff’s office told AL.com.   

Beard was an environmental supervisor with ADPH in Franklin County and had been with the department for 16 years.   

“The Alabama Department of Public Health extends our deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and colleagues of Summer Beard, after her tragic passing," ADPH said in a statement. " Summer was known to her coworkers as an exceptional person. She was a tremendous team worker and was loved by those who knew her."  

According to dogsbite.org, 46 Americans died of dog bite-related fatalities in 2020, and between 2005 and 2020, dogs killed a total of 568 Americans.   

In June 2021, the U.S. Postal Service said more than 5,800 postal employees were attacked by dogs over the previous year. During the post office’s annual National Dog Bite Awareness Week, the agency said nips, bites and vicious attacks pose a serious threat to postal employees, as well as the general public.   

“Raising awareness about dog bite prevention and how to protect our letter carriers as we deliver the mail is paramount,” USPS Acting Employee Safety and Health Awareness Manager Jamie Seavello said in a statement at the time. “Dogs are instinctive animals that may act to protect their turf and that why’s it’s important to inform the public about this campaign.”  

Dogs are responsible for two other employee attacks this year.   

On March 3, a letter carrier in Riffee Ridge, W.V. was attacked while walking her route.   

Putnam County Sheriff’s Lt. Shane Shamblin told WSAZ the mail carrier was walking back to her car on the road when two dogs attacked her.   

Shamblin said the mail carrier had just dropped mail off on the house’s porch and had turned to return to her car when the dogs attacked. Neighbors spotted the attack and rushed to the mail carrier’s aid, he said.   

“One of the neighbors stated that when he got up there it appeared that the dogs were actually trying to drag her off,” Shamblin said. “She had major lacerations to her face, her arms and chest -- with multiple puncture wounds.”  

Even as emergency crews tried to get her to the hospital, one of the dogs would not stop attacking, he said. First responders terminated the dog, he said, and shot the other with two tranquilizer darts.    

“Those were not effective. It continued to run around and act aggressive, and that dog was terminated, as well,” Shamblin said.  

The mail carrier was taken to the hospital and treated for her injuries.   

And in February, an animal rescue worker was killed when a dog she was working with “suddenly snapped” and attack the woman and another worker at the shelter.   

 A woman working at a Florida animal shelter was killed when police say a dog “suddenly snapped.” Another worker tried to help her but was injured.  

Officials said Pam Robb was working at the 100 Plus Abandoned Dogs of The Everglades animal rescue in Oakland Park, Fla., when a recently rescued large breed dog turned on her and a co-worker. Robb died in the hospital, officials said. The other worker suffered only minor injuries.