A Florida woman was killed in a “vicious” attack by a neighbor’s dogs despite the owner having been reported multiple times to authorities.
Jodi Cowan, 50, had only lived on her street in Brevard County for two weeks when the fatal incident occurred on May 19. She was walking her dog after midnight when two pit bulls jumped over their fence and attacked her, authorities said.
The dogs’ owner Linda Cutler was taken into custody on a manslaughter charge last month and is due in court June 23.
Since the “brutal” attack, it has emerged Cutler’s neighbors called the sheriff’s office at least 14 times about her animals since October 2024, Fox News reports, albeit for less serious matters.
Concerns raised including potential animal neglect and other dogs she owned being allowed to roam free in the neighborhood.
“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 in a briefing after the killing.
“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.”
Ivey said that Cutler declared she was having a heart attack when she was arrested and was taken to hospital but was later released into the sheriffs’ custody.
Footage of the attack taken from a Blink doorbell camera shows Cowan clutching her dog to her chest and trying to escape the charging pit bulls.
The animals, Max and Mako, “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” Ivey explained.
Cowan’s spouse had tried to defend her from the dogs by swinging a knife at the dogs, cops saod. She was rushed to a nearby trauma hospital, but died hours later from her injuries.
Cutlers’s dogs had previously bitten a neighbor badly enough for them to need medical attention, Ivey said. She had previously been cited by animal services but Cutler took “minimal action,” to restrain her dogs or keep them in her yard, according to the sheriff’s office.
In addressing concerns about the apparent lack of action on animal services’ part, Ivey told the public that animal services actually does not have the authority to seize dangerous dogs.
“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.”
He added that a number of the previous calls to animal services about Cutler’s residence related to other dogs she owned. The two animals involved in the fatal attack have since been euthanised.
Ivey said his thoughts and prayers are with Cowan’s family and friends during this time. Per Fox News, the dog Cowan was trying to protect from Max and Mako survived the incident.
More details here...
