Florida woman killed by pit bulls after neighbours called police 14 times over dogs

Florida woman killed by pit bulls after neighbours called police 14 times over dogs WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Jodi Cowan, 50, died after being attacked by two pit bulls in Brevard County, Florida. The dogs' owner, Linda Cutler, has been charged with manslaughter A woman from Florida has died after being savagely attacked by her neighbour's dogs, which had previously been reported for terrorising the local community. Jodi Cowan, 50, was killed on May 19, just two weeks after moving to Blue Bonnet Drive in Brevard County. In the early hours of the morning, Cowan was walking her own dog at around 1 a.m. local time when her neighbour's pit bulls leapt over a fence and launched a ferocious attack on her. Cowan's partner, Donnell Smith, said he arrived home shortly after 1 a.m. to find both Cowan and one of their dogs missing. Moments later, he heard faint cries for help, and it was then that he realised his wife was in grave danger. "I saw the silhouette of the two dogs dragging my wife down the road, off into the grass in front of the truck down there," Smith told NBC affiliate WESH. Upon rushing to her aid, Smith found his wife lying in a pool of blood, her body covered in bite wounds. "I pulled my knife out, you know, just swinging with it one hand and holding the blood with the other, trying to stop her from bleeding," he recalled, reports the Mirror US. Smith immediately called 911, and Cowan was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where she sadly passed away from her injuries. "It was brutal," Smith said, "Seeing the same woman I've loved for the last 25-30 years just ripped apart by two animals was just... I'll never get that image out of my mind." The dogs' owner, Linda Cutler, was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with manslaughter. She is due to appear in court on June 23. Since the fatal incident, local residents have revealed that they had made at least 14 calls to the sheriff's office since October 2024 regarding the dogs. Concerns raised included animal neglect and Cutler's previous dogs being allowed to wander freely through the neighbourhood. While this marks the first fatal incident involving the dogs, the sheriff's office confirmed that the animals had previously bitten a neighbour, who subsequently required medical treatment. Animal services also reported that Cutler had taken "minimal action" to restrain her dogs and protect her community from them. "Linda Cutler had specific and documented knowledge that her dogs repeatedly got out of her yard, and additional knowledge that her dogs were attacking humans," Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said during a briefing on the incident. "At the time of her arrest, Cutler was staying at the Hilton hotel on the beach, which in my opinion is absolutely disgusting given that her inactions led to the death of an innocent woman who was simply trying to walk her own dog in her neighborhood," he added. Ivey further revealed that Cutler claimed she was suffering a heart attack at the time of her arrest. She was subsequently taken to hospital for assessment before being released back into the custody of the sheriff's office. The sheriff also revealed that footage captured by a Blink doorbell camera showed the harrowing moment Cowan was savagely attacked and dragged by the dogs, Max and Mako. He stated that when the pit bulls broke free from their home, they "began to brutally attack and maul Cowan, forcing her to the ground, viciously attacking her, and eventually dragging her across the ground for quite some distance." During the press briefing, Ivey highlighted that animal services lack the legal power to confiscate pets from their owners, even in cases where the animals have previously attacked local residents or passers-by. "In fact," explained Ivey, "even if a dog has previously bitten someone, and it's not a severe bite, the most action our animal enforcement officers are allowed by law to take is the issuance of a citation and a fine." In the wake of the attack, Max and Mako were seized by the authorities and have subsequently been put down. Cowan's own dog, however, managed to survive the ordeal.