A 50-year-old woman was allegedly dragged to her death by her neighbor's pit bulls in a brutal attack near Cocoa, Florida, as her partner desperately tried to intervene. Jodi Cowan was attacked while walking her dog in the early hours of May 19, according to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office Animal Services unit.
Partner's desperate rescue attempt
Donnell Smith, Cowan's partner, told local NBC affiliate WESH that he returned home around 1 a.m. and found Cowan and her dog missing. He then heard a distant cry for help and saw the silhouette of two dogs dragging someone along the road. Running to help, he found Cowan lying in a pool of blood, covered in dog bites. '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,' Smith said. He called 911, and Cowan was airlifted to a 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.'
Community concerns ignored
Neighbors reported multiple previous incidents involving the same pit bulls. Bruce Midkiff, whose surveillance camera captured the attack, told the Daily Mail that residents had repeatedly complained to the sheriff's office. In one prior incident, a dog cornered his wife in her car and bit another neighbor. Scott Chase told Florida Today that the dogs made him 'afraid to leave his house,' adding that he had complained twice about the animals.
Cowan's father, Martin, expressed his grief: 'I'm not going to throw stones, but it's tragic. I have lost my daughter. She was my little girl.'
Legal consequences for dangerous dogs
Under Florida law, owners of violent dogs face serious penalties. If a dog previously declared dangerous attacks unprovoked, the owner commits a first-degree misdemeanor. If the attack causes severe injury or death, owners may face second-degree felony charges, fines, and euthanasia of the pet. The investigation is ongoing, and Metro has contacted the Brevard County Sheriff's Office for comment.
