© Tim KrochakAn official from the Nova Scotia medical examiner's office removes the body of a dog suspected in a fatal attack in Middle Musquodoboit on Tuesday.
"Those dogs were the focal point of her life," said the man who did not want to be identified given the tragedy that unfolded in his community.
"It's very sad circumstances," he said.
RCMP said that the victim was a Middle Musquodoboit resident. Community members confirmed the victim to be Meghan MacAdams, an employee of the province's Department of Lands and Forestry.
Officers were called to the scene of the fatal incident on Wittenburg Road at just after 8 a.m. About an hour and a half after police discovered her body the dog was found dead after being run down by a vehicle near Highway 224, said police.
But the victim's neighbour said he was shocked to find out which of the dogs was responsible for the woman's death. He said one of the pit bulls she owned, which was at the victim's home at the time of the incident, was known to be very aggressive and had attacked the owner last year. The other that turned on its owner was always mild-mannered and well behaved, he said.
"When I found out it was that dog I was shocked, I couldn't believe it," he said. The man said he witnessed the dog being taken from the women's home by Animal Services on Tuesday afternoon.
"Honestly the other dog was always a constant worry for myself when I'd leave the house to go to work. We have a small farm so we were always worried about the dog getting out and attacking the animals or attacking my wife when she was out working."
RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Lisa Croteau said police determined from the scene and the investigation so far that she was walking her dog when it attacked her.
She said the medical examiner is determining the cause of death and so far there are no clues to explain why the dog fatally attacked its owner.
The neighbour said a handful of other community members also told him they had witnessed the surviving dog attack MacAdams and pinning her down before escaping unharmed.
The man said last year he had been inside the woman's home because he was interested in buying the property. It was clear that her neighbour loved her animals and catered to them, he said.
"They meant so much to her," he said. "I think she really tried to help the problem dog become a better dog."
He said she would walk the dogs at odd hours outside of the village boundaries to make sure it would be away from residents. That appears to be the case on Tuesday morning. The woman had driven her car about 10 minutes away from her home to take her dog for a walk.
Another local woman said she had come across the dead dog on McFetridge Road Tuesday morning. She said it was about three-kilometre distance between where the woman was found and the dog was later located.
"I'd had seen her walking her dogs before on the Wittenberg Road and, yes, it was pretty scary there for a bit while the dog was loose," she said.
"It's a small community so we are all in shock with what happened."
Valerie Farnell was working in Middle Musquodoboit Tuesday morning and received several phone calls warning her of a dog on the loose and the fatal attack.
"It's terrible and I can't imagine, I really can't imagine," said Farnell. "It's just one tragedy after another tragedy lately in this province."
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