An elderly Ohio woman is dead after she was attacked — and partially eaten — by her neighbor’s pigs, according to police in the town of Pataskala.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, Rebecca Westergaard, 75, was found dead on the property of her Pataskala home on Christmas Day after her niece called in a welfare check, Pataskala police said.
Westergaard, who lived alone, was due to pick up the niece that morning but never showed.
When police arrived at the home, they found Westergaard’s body, apparently mauled and killed by a pair of pigss that investigators say roamed onto the property.
Police say the pigs involved belonged to a neighbor, but said it was still unclear whether their owner would face any criminal charges.
Their owner has not been named.
Pataskala City Councilwoman Mary Hite, who owns a meat market just a quarter-mile from Westergaard’s house, told the Dispatch the animals were not hers.
It also remains unclear what will become of the pigs after the alleged attack.
When a pet dog kills someone in Ohio the animal is euthanized, but the state’s law is less clear about how to handle vicious behavior from farm animals.
“If it was a pit bull or a Rottweiler, or name any of the other 15 dogs that are deemed semi-aggressive, then we would know the answer right away,” Brooks said.
“But being farm animals, it’s just not something we’ve ever dealt with here.