Wild dogs kill senior citizens in Georgia

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

In the state whose university’s mascot is a bulldog and its most disgraced football star is known for abusing dogs comes this sad tale from the Associated Press about a pair of senior citizens being killed by a pack of dogs.

An elderly woman killed by a pack of wild dogs had been out for a walk when she was attacked, and her husband died trying to fight off the mauling animals when he discovered the bloody scene near their rural Georgia home, authorities said Tuesday.

Preliminary autopsy results showed Lothar Karl Schweder, 77, and his 65-year-old wife, Sherry, died from multiple animal bites.

Authorities have rounded up about 11 dogs suspected in the rare attack and returned to the area Tuesday to find four more spotted by a deputy. The dogs were being held by animal control officials while authorities decide what to do with them, said Jim Fullington, special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

“It just appears that a large number of dogs had started living, running together, multiplying and had grown into what I would describe as a pack of wild or feral-type dogs,” Fullington said.

Sherry Schweder had told one of her sons that there were several dogs wandering the neighborhood that no one seemed to be caring for, Fullington said.

Authorities said it appeared Sherry Schweder was attacked by the pack of dogs during a Friday evening walk near her home. Authorities believe her husband later went looking for her in the family car.

Investigators found Sherry Schweder’s bloody shirt underneath the car, which was about six to eight feet from her body, said Madison County Coroner James Mathews.

Lothar Schweder was then attacked and apparently struggled with the dogs, Mathews said. His body was found on the other side of the dirt road, about 16 to 18 feet from his wife’s body.

Evidence indicates Lothar Schweder put up a fight and may have tried to pull out a cell phone before he was overtaken, Mathews said.

Experts say such attacks are extremely rare — and instances where more than one person is attacked are even more rare.

“You are more likely to killed by a bolt of lightening than by a dog,” said Adam Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States. “It’s one in millions.”

There have been at least 20 deadly dog attacks in the U.S. this year, 22 in 2008 and 33 in 2007, Goldfarb said, compared with about 75 million owned dogs. Many dogs that turn vicious aren’t necessarily pets but kept for hunting or breeding, or as guard dogs.

Dogs that attack also typically are not spayed or neutered, which can contribute to aggression, Goldfarb said. He said it’s likely the dogs in the Georgia attack weren’t sterilized.

Authorities said they interviewed a man at a house down the street where several dogs were staying. Fullington said the man was not staying at the house full time.

Fullington could not say whether anyone would face charges, citing the ongoing investigation.

A family friend told the Athens Banner-Herald that Lothar Karl Schweder was a retired professor who had taught German at the University of Georgia, which is about 20 miles away in Athens. German Department head Martin Kagel did not know of Schweder but said it might be possible he worked there part time or more than 20 years ago.

Sherry Schweder was a bibliographer at the university’s library, where she had worked since 1974, selecting books and journals for the school’s humanities collection, said librarian William Potter.

-- Tony Pierce