5 Dogs Attack Elderly Woman At Funeral, Owner Charged

A South Carolina dog owner was charged after her five pet dogs got loose and attacked a 76-year-old woman attending a funeral Monday.

The Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement Department responded to the scene after receiving a report of a canine attack Monday. Investigators determined that the dogs belonged to 43-year-old Daisy Ann Anderson.

The arrest warrant stated Anderson willingly let the dogs free, despite knowing that the canines had the tendency to attack people, CBS-affiliated television station WSPA reported.

Spartanburg Environmental Enforcement Department Director Jamie Nelson said, “The victim suffered puncture wounds to her body from the canines. One witness on scene stated at one point, one of the canines was yanking the victim in an attempt to pull her,” Fox Carolina reported.

Anderson was taken into custody Monday and charged with five counts of violations of a local animal control ordinance. The owner was also booked on an unrelated shoplifting charge filed by the Greer Police Department on Monday.

The five dogs were seized from her home and held under a rabies quarantine at the Spartanburg Humane Society. Nelson said 12 other dogs were found at Anderson’s home.

Speaking to WYFF News 4, the victim, from Virginia, said she was at the funeral for her brother-in-law when the incident took place. She said the dogs attacked when she bent down to fix flowers on her husband’s grave.

Describing the injuries as “bullet holes,” she said most injuries were to the left leg.

"I knew right away they were not friendly dogs, they were like a wolf-pack,” she said, adding the canines ran away after her nephews ran to her rescue. The victim said she would be staying back in South Carolina to attend the court hearing related to the case.

In a similar incident earlier this month, a pack of about 10 dogs attacked a woman in Arkansas. The 27-year-old had over 200 bite marks in her body. The victim said she felt helpless as no one was around when the attack took place. The dog’s owners, however, said they knew nothing about the attack and suggested coyotes could have attacked the woman, WREG reported.