Woman, 50, ‘dragged to death’ by pit bulls notorious for terrorising community

A woman was allegedly dragged to her death by her neighbor’s pit bulls as her partner desperately tried to stop the ‘brutal’ attack.

Jodi Cowan, 50, is understood to have been attacked as she walked her dog around the area where she lived near Cocoa, Florida, in the early hours of May 19, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office’s Animal Services unit.

Her partner, Donnell Smith, told local NBC affiliate WESH that he had returned home at around 1am and found that Cowan and the dog were not there.

He then claimed he heard a distant cry for help and saw the silhouette of two dogs dragging someone along the road. He ran to help her and found her lying in a pool of blood, covered in dog bites.

Smith told the outlet: ‘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 then called 911 and his partner was airlifted to hospital, where she later died.

‘It was brutal,’ Smith continued.

‘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.’

Cowan’s father, Martin, told Florida Today: ‘I’m not going to throw stones, but it’s tragic. I have lost my daughter. She was my little girl.’

One of Cowan’s neighbors, Bruce Midkiff, caught the alleged attack on his surveillance camera and handed the video over to police.

He told the Daily Mail that residents of the neighborhood had had concerns about two pit bulls living nearby, and that multiple reports had been made to the sheriff’s office.

He claimed that in previous incidents last month, one of the dogs cornered his wife in her car and bit another neighbor.

Another neighbor, Scott Chase, told Florida Today that the dogs had made him ‘afraid to leave his house’. ‘They just keep getting loose,’ he said, adding that he had complained about the animals twice.

Smith told WESH that he thinks Cowan was attacked after the pit bulls went after the couple’s smaller dog.

He said his partner may have attempted to rescue her pet before the dogs turned on her.

An investigation into the attack is ongoing.

Owners of violent or dangerous dogs in Florida face serious penalties. If a dog that has previously been declared dangerous attacks someone unprovoked, the owner is considered to have committed a first-degree misdemeanour.

If the attack causes severe injury or death, owners may face second-degree felony charges, fines, and the euthanasia of their pet.

Metro has contacted the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office’s Animal Services unit for comment.