Florida woman mauled to death by dogs that had allegedly terrorized neighborhood, owner charged in killing

A Florida pistillate was mauled to decease by 2 dogs that neighbors accidental had terrorized the assemblage — and present the animals' proprietor is successful jail.

The dogs are being held by the county’s carnal services portion and volition beryllium euthanized, authorities said. 

And now, neighbors on Blue Bonnet Drive don’t person to interest anymore astir the duo that utilized to "terrorize" them, nonmigratory Dominica Midkiff told Fox News Digital. 

Jodi Cowan, 50, had lone lived connected the thoroughfare for astir 2 weeks, Midkiff said.

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Linda Cutler was arrested aft her dogs allegedly killed Jodi Cowan. (Brevard County Sheriff's Office; Dominica Midkiff)

At the clip of the attack, Cowan was walking her tiny canine connected the acheronian thoroughfare aft midnight, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said successful a video his bureau shared connected Facebook connected May 27.  

Meanwhile, the pit bull brace belonging to neighbour Linda Cutler "had erstwhile again gotten retired of their gait and were roaming the neighborhood," Ivey said. 

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A neighbor’s information camera captured the onslaught successful an "extremely troubling and graphic" video, Ivey said. 

The video shows Cowan clutching her tiny canine to her chest, shrieking and trying to flee.

The larger dogs, known arsenic Max and Mako, "began to brutally onslaught and maul Cowan, forcing her to the ground, viciously attacking her, and yet dragging her crossed the crushed for rather immoderate distance," Ivey said.

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Cowan’s partner, Donnell Smith, heard her screams and raced to halt the onslaught "by swinging a weapon astatine the dogs and trying to thrust them away," Ivey said. 

Smith called 911 portion trying to support his longtime love. 

He could beryllium heard connected an eight-minute 911 telephone trying to thrust backmost the barking dogs and render assistance to still-conscious Cowan.

Florida pit bulls Mako and Max mauled Jodi Cowan to death, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said. (Brevard County Sheriff's Office)

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"It’s brutal," said Brevard PIO Tod Goodyear, a erstwhile homicide detective with 40 years astatine the sheriff’s office, told Fox News Digital. "She suffered." 

Cowan was transported to a adjacent trauma center. She died astir 4 hours later, Ivey said. 

The small canine Cowan died trying to support escaped unharmed.

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"She was a large woman," Smith told a newsman for WESH 2 News. "She conscionable loved people, loved dogs much than people." 

Dangerous canine law

A sheriff’s bureau probe revealed that Cutler knew "her dogs repeatedly got retired of her gait and … were attacking humans and … took minimal enactment to forestall the dogs from getting retired of her yard, adjacent aft being cited by Animal Services," Ivey said. 

Cutler besides knew that her dogs antecedently "had bitten a neighbour who had to question aesculapian treatment," Ivey said.

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Since October 2024, neighbors had called the sheriff’s bureau astatine slightest 14 times astir Cutler’s animals, bureau reports show. 

Some callers complained astir her dogs roaming the neighborhood. Some callers expressed interest that Cutler’s dogs mightiness beryllium neglected.

Linda Cutler was arrested aft her pit bulls allegedly ran from her Cocoa, Florida, location and mauled a neighbour to death. (Brevard County Sheriff's Office)

Investigators recovered nutrient and h2o astatine Cutler’s location and documented nary signs of neglect, Goodyear said.

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In his video address, Ivey fumed astatine the proposition that his agency’s carnal services portion hadn’t taken due action.  

"While you mightiness deliberation that Animal Services has the authorization to prehend dogs that routinely flight from yards oregon that person adjacent bitten someone, the unfortunate world is that they don't," Ivey said.

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If "it’s not a terrible bite, the astir enactment our carnal enforcement officers are allowed by instrumentality to instrumentality is the issuance of a citation and a fine," helium said. 

Animal Services officers issued astatine slightest 5 citations to Cutler with hundreds of dollars successful fines, Goodyear said. He didn’t person the nonstop amount. 

But adjacent aft a 2nd bite, Ivey said successful his address, a "dog inactive can't beryllium seized by carnal enforcement officers, arsenic it is not the fig of bites, but the severity of the wound that elevates the imaginable for the canine to beryllium declared a unsafe canine and the proprietor spell earlier a magistrate."

And adjacent then, nether Florida’s unsafe canine law, helium added, the "dog proprietor inactive has the close to support the canine oregon dogs by pursuing the court's ruling that they indispensable person effectual fencing, muzzle the canine anytime idiosyncratic is visiting the residence, [put] signage connected each egress points saying a unsafe canine resides there, and person $100,000 security argumentation successful the lawsuit the canine bites different person."

In the lawsuit of Max and Mako, Ivey said, immoderate radical making complaints astir the dogs said they "were not assertive and that they conscionable support getting retired of the obstruction and request to beryllium returned to their home." 

After a study that 1 of the dogs had bitten a neighbor, the unfortunate "did not cooperate with instrumentality enforcement aft repeated calls to bash truthful from our carnal enforcement officers," Ivey said. 

"The probe could not beryllium continued, which prohibited our carnal enforcement officers from taking immoderate further action."  

‘Pinned radical connected their porches’

As puppies, Max and Mako made friends connected their romps distant from their ain yard, Midkiff said.

"The full vicinity was affable with them until they started to crook connected people." 

As the puppy brothers grew, Midkiff said, they showed signs of aggression. And arsenic big dogs, their predominant escapes done oregon implicit the yard’s chain-link obstruction frightened radical surviving nearby.

They "pinned radical connected their porches arsenic radical were trying to permission for enactment and travel home," Midkiff said. "You ne'er knew wherever them escaped dogs would beryllium and who they were going to terrorize next."

Just 20 days earlier they mauled Cowan, Midkiff snapped photos of Max and Mako lasting extracurricular her car, watching her intently done the windows. 

Midkiff wanted to spell wrong her home, she said, but she was acrophobic to permission the information of the vehicle.

"I waited successful my car until they got distracted by thing else." 

Cutler arrested 

During the probe aft the mauling, Cutler indicated she knew her dogs had been escaping, knew 1 had bitten someone, and revealed "both dogs were becoming much and much aggressive, adjacent towards her," Ivey said. 

"A woman's dead, and 2 dogs are astir to beryllium euthanized due to the fact that of your uselessness," Ivey told Cutler. (Willie J. Allen Jr. for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Then, she asked erstwhile she could get her dogs back, the sheriff said.

After Cowan’s death, Cutler checked into a edifice connected a adjacent beach, Ivey said. There, different instrumentality enforcement bureau responded to a "disturbance" involving Cutler.

Eight days aft the mauling, Cutler, 29, was arrested. While being taken into custody, she pretended to person a bosom attack, Ivey said. 

Cutler was evaluated astatine a infirmary and cleared of immoderate aesculapian issues, Goodyear told Fox News Digital. It’s common, helium said, for radical to unreal to person life-threatening aesculapian issues erstwhile facing arrest. 

During his update connected the lawsuit connected societal media, Ivey shared a video showing him greeting Cutler arsenic she was walked into the jail. The video shows him telling Cutler, "Hope you enjoyed your clip astatine the beach, due to the fact that you're not going to beryllium going back."

She glares astatine him and retorts, "What is the intent of that?" 

"A woman's dead, and 2 dogs are astir to beryllium euthanized due to the fact that of your uselessness," Ivey fires back. "So, person a bully visit."

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Cutler is being held without enslaved due to the fact that she was already retired of jailhouse connected different charge, Goodyear said. She could not beryllium reached for comment. 

"Being her neighbour has been hell," Midkiff said. "I americium praying Linda Cutler gets 15 years."