Places in Alabama with Fatal Dog Attacks Since 2020

Officials warn that fatal dog attacks have become more common across the country. In Alabama alone, 10 people have been killed in dog attacks since 2020. We've compiled a list of the places in Alabama where those fatalities occured.

* Gathered from various sources online including: Wikipedia, Dogsbite.org, the Dog Service Network, and various local news sources. This may not be a complete list of every fatality in Alabama since 2020, but we have tried to make it as accurate as possible.

Photo byimage created by April Killian

Nauvoo (Walker County) 2020: Ruthie Mae Brown, age 36, was attacked and killed by a pack of dogs (possibly 5 to 8 dogs) while she was out walking near her home.

Cullman County 2022: Rhonda Persall, age 57, was attacked and killed by two dogs. The dogs were owned by a neighbor and had escaped from their fenced back yard. They were believed to be Labrador Retriever Mixes.

Red Bay area (Franklin County) 2022: Jaqueline Summer Beard, age 58, was found deceased after she was attacked and killed by a pack of dogs. Ironically, Beard was a state worker who was killed at the location where she had been sent to investigate another brutal dog attack by the same pack of dogs. The victim of that attack, Michelle Sheeks, age 44, died from her injuries three months later. The dogs were described by authorities as various large mixed breeds.

Skipperville (Dale County) 2023: Demarcus "Sam" McKenzie, age 27, was killed as he left his home and was attacked by a pack of 5 or 6 neighborhood dogs.

Chelsea (Shelby County) 2023: 3 month old boy was killed when he was attacked by a family pet. The pet was a wolf-dog hybrid.

Ensley (Jefferson County) 2023: Sharon Portis, age 63, was found dead near her home after leaving on foot to walk to work. Her death was determined by the coroner to have been caused by a dog attack. The breed of the dog(s) remains unkown.

Hartselle (Morgan County) 2024: Beau Clark, age 4, was attacked and killed in his own yard by a neighbor's loose English Bull dog.

New Hope (Madison County) 2024: Mark Alan Partain, age 2, was found in front of his neighbor's dog pen where he was fatally attacked. Although 3 dogs were in the pen, the dog's owner blamed a husky for the fatal attack.

Town Creek (Lawrence County) 2024: Willard Norton, age 83, was mauled to death by two dogs near his front door. Both dogs were pit bulls.

Despite the Numbers, Dogs are Not a Big Danger in Alabama

Despite having ten fatalities since 2020, fatal dog attacks in Alabama are still a rare occurence, especially considering the millions of dogs in the state. The chance of being fatally attacked by a dog is extremely low according to statistics. The risk of being killed in a fatal car accident is 1,056x greater than being killed by a dog and the chance of being killed by an insect bite in Alabama is almost 3x greater than death from a dog attack.

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