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

A Florida woman was that neighbors say had terrorized the community — and now the animals’ owner is in jail.

The dogs are being held by the countys animal services unit and will be euthanized, authorities said. 

And now, neighbors along Blue Bonnet Drive dont have to worry anymore about the duo that used to “terrorize” them, resident Dominica Midkiff told Fox News Digital. 

Jodi Cowan, 50, had only lived on the street for about two weeks, Midkiff said.

At the time of the attack, Cowan was walking her small dog on the dark street after midnight, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a video his office shared on Facebook on May 27.  

Meanwhile, the belonging to neighbor Linda Cutler “had once again gotten out of their yard and were roaming the neighborhood,” Ivey said. 

A neighbors security camera captured the attack in an “extremely troubling and graphic” video, Ivey said. 

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

The larger dogs, known as Max and Mako, “began to , forcing her to the ground, viciously attacking her, and eventually dragging her across the ground for quite some distance,” Ivey said.

Cowans partner, Donnell Smith, heard her screams and raced to stop the attack “by swinging a knife at the dogs and trying to drive them away,” Ivey said. 

Smith called 911 while trying to protect his longtime love. 

He could be heard on an eight-minute 911 call trying to drive back the barking dogs and render aid to still-conscious Cowan.

“Its brutal,” said Brevard PIO Tod Goodyear, a former detective with 40 years at the sheriffs office, told Fox News Digital. “She suffered.” 

Cowan was transported to a nearby trauma center. She died about four hours later, Ivey said. 

The little dog Cowan died trying to protect escaped unharmed.

“She was a great woman,” Smith told a reporter for WESH 2 News. “She just loved people, loved dogs more than people.” 

A sheriffs office investigation revealed that Cutler knew “her of her yard and … were attacking humans and … took minimal action to prevent the dogs from getting out of her yard, even after being cited by Animal Services,” Ivey said. 

Cutler also knew that her dogs previously “had bitten a neighbor who had to seek medical treatment,” Ivey said.

Since October 2024, neighbors had called the sheriffs office at least 14 times about Cutlers animals, agency reports show. 

Some callers complained about her dogs roaming the neighborhood. Some callers expressed concern that Cutlers dogs might be neglected.

Investigators found food and water at Cutlers home and documented no signs of neglect, Goodyear said.

In his video address, Ivey fumed at the suggestion that his agencys animal services unit hadnt taken appropriate action.  

“While you might think that Animal Services has the authority to seize dogs that routinely escape from yards or that have even bitten someone, the unfortunate reality is that they don’t,” Ivey said.

If “its not a severe bite, the most action our animal enforcement officers are allowed by law to take is the issuance of a citation and a fine,” he said. 

Animal Services officers issued at least five citations to Cutler with hundreds of dollars in fines, Goodyear said. He didnt have the exact amount. 

But even after a second bite, Ivey said in his address, a “dog still can’t be seized by animal enforcement officers, as it is not the number of bites, but the severity of the bite that elevates the potential for the dog to be declared a dangerous dog and the owner go before a magistrate.”

And even then, under Floridas <a href="https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Stat