The partner of a Florida woman who was mauled to death by a neighbor’s dogs was arrested after police found the couple’s decomposing dogs in the couple’s shared home.
According to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, police received a tip June 11 about a foul smell coming from the trailer where the woman who was mauled, Jodi Cowan, and Donnell Smith lived, WESH 2 News reported. When police arrived, the animals were found decomposing.
Cowan was killed in May by two pit bulls that belonged to her neighbor as she was walking her dogs, WFTV 9 reported. Smith, her partner, was arrested Monday.
Officers with the Animal Services Division collected the remains of the dogs. Sheriff Wayne Ivey, who oversees the division, said Smith had not checked on the animals since June 2 and that there was no water, food or air conditioning in the trailer.
“Jodi Cowan lost her life because of the inaction; three dogs have now died because of this,” Ivey said, according to WESH 2. A necropsy will determine the cause of death for the dogs found inside her and Smith’s home, the station reported.
Cowan, 50 at the time, was found by Smith after the attack last month. Smith told reporters in May that he’d gotten home shortly after 1 a.m. and noticed Cowan and one of their dogs was missing before hearing a faint cry for help.
“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 the outlet. He said she found her in a pool of blood, covered in bites. The dogs, according to Smith, then attempted to drag Cowan away. “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 was able to call 911, but said Cowan died hours after being flown to the hospital.
“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.”
Smith described Cowan as a woman who loved people, and dogs “more than people.” He faces aggravated felony animal cruelty, as well as several misdemeanors. He is scheduled to appear in court June 16.
The owner of the dogs that mauled Cowan, 29-year-old Linda Cutler, was arrested two weeks ago in Melbourne, Florida, on a charge of manslaughter, according to WESH 2.
“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,” Ivey, the sheriff, said in a briefing after the killing.
A friend of Cowan created a GoFundMe to raise funds to help Cowan’s family and Smith after her death.
“Jodi touched so many lives with her compassion and warmth,” the friend wrote on the page, which has $160 in contributions. “Her memory will live on in the hearts of those who loved her, and any support you can offer is deeply appreciated.”
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