Alabama: Sheriff explains dog ordinances after deadly Pit Bull attack

ALABAMA -- A dog attack left a 24-year-old woman dead, and the future of those Pit Bulls is still up in the air.

Sheriff Chuck Phillips told WAAY 31 they don't have leash laws in Jackson County, but they do have aggressive dog ordinances.

"I've been here 36 years, and this is the first time I've known anything like this happening that someone was killed," Sheriff Phillips says.

Sheriff Chuck Phillips told WAAY 31 aggressive dog ordinances are in place in Jackson County to stop attacks like the one that happened on Thursday from happening.

"It's a decision that has to be made by the judge before they are deemed aggressive or not," the sheriff says.

The sheriff says if they receive calls about an animal's behavior, the county is able to remove the dogs from their home and investigate the situation.

However, the sheriff says they have never received any calls about the five dogs involved in Thursday's attack.

"We don't know why they were being aggressive today," Sheriff Phillips says.

The sheriff says he thinks the ordinances need to be re-examined.

Neighbors say dogs often run loose in the neighborhood.

Marcell Stiefel said, "I killed two dogs the other day."

Stiefel lives in this same neighborhood and says he was recently attacked by a pack of dogs.

He isn't sure who they belong to, but says they have been terrorizing his chickens for weeks."

They tore into my chicken pen and one of them attacked me and I shot it," said Stiefel.

"Everybody is responsible for their animals, even though there is no leash law," the sheriff said. "The owner of the animal is responsible for it's behavior and that's something the commission may need to look a little further in to."

Sheriff Chuck Phillips said, "This is something very, very uncommon, although it's happened twice recently [deaths in Alabama due to Pit Bull attacks], I know a lot of attention has been brought on to pit bull dogs."

The sheriff's office is still investigating what happened leading up to the attack, and Sheriff Chuck Phillips told WAAY 31 the dogs' owner could face negligent homicide charges.

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(WAAY - December 7, 2017)

Earlier:

• Alabama: Twenty-four year old woman mauled to death by Pit Bulls