dog attack
A longtime 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.

Beard was as an environmentalist supervisor in Franklin, Marion and Winston counties, according to the ADPH. She worked for the health department for almost 17 years.

"The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) extends our deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and colleagues of Summer Beard, after her tragic passing," Ryan Easterling, the director of the ADPH's Health Media and Communications Division, 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.

"It is a very sad day for ADPH, and we ask that everyone respect the privacy of the family during this most difficult time."

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.