Partner of woman killed by dogs recently saved neighbor wounded in similar attack: Court records

New details person emerged astir past allegations involving a Florida woman's dogs that constabulary accidental mauled a neighbour to death.

And successful a bizarre twist, a transgression probe has been opened aft 3 dogs were recovered dormant astatine the question trailer wherever mauling unfortunate Jodi Cowan was surviving astatine the clip of the fatal attack. 

Deputies responded to a telephone connected June 11 astir a atrocious odor astatine the residence, said Tod Goodyear, nationalist accusation serviceman of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

The "case is ongoing awaiting an introspection of the dogs to find the origin of death," Goodyear said. "Charges would beryllium connected the result of the necropsies and the origin of death. The residence was nether the power of the fellow of Cowan."

FLORIDA WOMAN MAULED TO DEATH BY DOGS THAT HAD ALLEGEDLY TERRORIZED NEIGHBORHOOD, OWNER CHARGED IN KILLING

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

Before that, much astonishing details were revealed successful tribunal documents obtained by Fox News Digital astir the May 19 canine onslaught that led to Cowan’s death.

The year-old littermates caught connected camera attacking Cowan had attacked others and had shown aggression toward their owner, Linda Cutler, Brevard County Court records show. 

Cutler, 29, has been charged with manslaughter and is held without enslaved successful the Brevard County Jail.

Her apprehension came 8 days aft her 50-year-old neighbor, Cowan, was fatally wounded portion walking her ain small canine connected their street. That canine was not 1 of the dogs recovered dormant astatine her residence, Goodyear said.

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It was astir 2 a.m. connected May 19 erstwhile Cowan’s spouse of 30 years heard her cries for assistance extracurricular their home. 

He sprinted done the acheronian to prevention her. And wielding a weapon astatine the still-attacking dogs, Donnell Smith frantically called 911 and tried to halt the bleeding from Cowan’s neck, tribunal records show.

The dogs snarled and snapped arsenic Smith begged for assistance during the eight-minute call. Cowan could beryllium heard successful the inheritance saying, "I’m dying. Can’t breathe."

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Smith told the 911 relation that the dogs had "ripped out" her throat.

A aesculapian chopper raced Cowan to a trauma center. Her wounds included a severed carotid artery and jugular vein, tribunal records show. 

But the brutal onslaught connected his woman wasn’t the archetypal clip Smith had tried to halt the 2 pit-bull-and-Catahoua-leopard-mix dogs from savaging someone, according to an affidavit for an apprehension warrant filed with the court.

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On April 14, earlier the onslaught connected Cowan, the aforesaid 2 dogs, Max and Mako, attacked chap neighbour John Argila, according to the affidavit. 

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

During the probe into Cowan’s death, Smith told deputies that helium "helped get the dogs off" Argila. Later, helium said, helium told Cutler astir her dogs’ behavior, the affidavit shows. 

Argila told investigators he’d been walking down the roadworthy adjacent Blue Bonnet Drive a small aft 10 p.m., talking connected the telephone and pushing his motorcycle that had a level tire, erstwhile helium saw Max and Mako.

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He yelled astatine them to spell home. Usually, helium told deputies with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, yelling astatine them was capable to nonstop the dogs—who escaped their gait daily—back wrong their four-foot, chain-link fence, the study shows. 

But this time, they charged. 

Argila said helium tried to usage his motorcycle arsenic a barrier, but the dogs managed to wound him connected his arms. Three different dogs raced up, but didn’t wound him, helium told deputies. 

Then, a passing operator pulled up and yelled astatine him to get into the vehicle, allowing him to escape, Argila told deputies. An ambulance took him to a section infirmary for attraction for canine bites, the affidavit shows. 

Deputies noted seeing healing puncture wounds connected Argila’s arms. 

Exactly 5 weeks later, the aforesaid 2 dogs attacked Cowan. Her origin of decease according to the aesculapian examiner: aggregate canine bites. 

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)

History of aggression

After the deadly attack, a veterinarian astatine the sheriff’s bureau Animal Care Center examined Max and Mako. She recovered nary signs of maltreatment oregon neglect, the affidavit shows. 

Both dogs exhibited "Littermate Syndrome," which "occurs erstwhile 2 puppies are raised unneurotic and neglect to make independency and mean societal skills," according to the report. 

"Because of the deficiency of confidence, they often respond with fearfulness oregon aggression toward caller people, dogs, oregon environment," the affidavit says. 

While investigating, deputies saw Max flight the gait done an opening successful the fence. Max and Mako were acceptable to beryllium euthanized, a sheriff’s bureau spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

During the investigation, Cutler, the dogs’ owner, told deputies she’d noticed "an summation of aggression successful the dogs successful the past mates months," their study shows. She told deputies she "believed idiosyncratic was doing thing to her dogs to alteration their behavior, but was incapable to elaborate connected what oregon who."

During a home incidental with her boyfriend, her dogs showed aggression toward him, Cutler told deputies. She said she believed the aggression came from the dogs’ tendency to support her. 

Even though she’d installed further fencing to support the dogs in, she knew they inactive were escaping, she told deputies.

Max and Mako's parents besides acted aggressively, Cutler told deputies. About a twelvemonth earlier, their parent attacked her, she said, and her fellow "strangled the canine to decease to support her."

Max and Mako’s father, Boomer, besides had bitten someone, which earned Cutler a citation from the Animal Services portion of the sheriff’s office, records show. 

Max and Boomer, 2 of Linda Cutler's dogs. (Dominika Midkiff)

The sheriff’s bureau study lists 11 complaints involving Cutler’s dogs since September 2025. One idiosyncratic making a ailment said the dogs killed her cat. Others complained that the dogs were moving loose. Some said the dogs were chasing radical and acting aggressively. Some callers expressed interest that the animals had been abandoned. 

Cutler was arrested for manslaughter connected May 27, 8 days aft Cowan’s death.

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Dog instrumentality debate

From 2011 done 2021, determination were 468 deaths successful the United States that resulted from canine bites oregon strikes, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

In a survey of pediatric canine bites, researchers recovered that pit bulls were the astir identified breed of the 511 cases successful which the canine breed was known. And pit bulls were the astir commonly identified breed successful cases requiring an operation, researchers said successful the survey published successful the September 2021 variation of the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

Researchers wrote that "countless studies from crossed the state person identified pit bulls, mastiffs, German shepherds and dobermans arsenic the astir often identified breeds resulting successful visits to the" exigency department. 

Increasingly, fatal canine bites spark spirited statement astir banning immoderate canine breeds, including pit bulls. 

But banning circumstantial breeds of dogs isn’t the mode to support radical safer, said Holly Sizemore, main ngo serviceman of Best Friends Animal Society. In summation to providing a ample web of shelters with adoption services and different programs, the enactment compiles insights and analytics from much than 10,000 shelters and rescue groups crossed the nation. 

"The lone effectual mode to support radical and pets is, not done breed bans, it's done laws that absorption connected the behaviour of the canine and the behaviour of the owner," Sizemore told Fox News Digital. "Breed bans discarded resources. They don't marque communities safer. They don't trim risk."

Nearly fractional of U.S. states person immoderate signifier of instrumentality prohibiting oregon limiting breed-specific authorities astatine the section level, though the nonstop scope varies by state, said Best Friends spokeswoman Alina Hauptman. 

States that restrict section governments from enacting breed-specific authorities are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington, Hauptman said. 

Dog wound adept Michael Gould besides disagrees with bans of circumstantial breeds. He was a founding subordinate of the New York Police Department Canine Unit and serves arsenic an adept witnesser successful tribunal cases involving dogs.

Michael Gould and Sherlock Bones. (Michael Gould)

Gould champions the thought of holding canine owners accountable for decently grooming and containing their dogs. 

He besides argues that instrumentality enforcement agencies person a work to support communities from animals with a known past of aggression.

"Law enforcement has an overarching work to supply nationalist safety—period," Gould said.

"Are determination antithetic laws that a sheriff oregon a instrumentality enforcement authoritative has to follow? Of course. They can't conscionable randomly commencement seizing dogs … Maybe it's the laws of this municipality that person to change."

But, helium added, "this is simply a nationalist information issue. It's not a canine issue. I would person impounded the dogs."

Dogs that person due care, are trained and are socialized arsenic puppies don’t go dangerous, helium said.

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"I've been testifying successful tribunal for 30 years for these nonstop incidents, and there's not 1 clip I blamed the dog. It’s ever a quality constituent to it." 

A breed prohibition is "feeble," helium said. "It's archaic. It’s a Band-Aid that nine wants to enactment connected a problem, but it ne'er addresses the halfway of the problem."