An Ohio woman was mauled to death and partially eaten by her neighbor’s pigs, police said.
The 75-year-old woman was attacked on Christmas Day in Pataskala, police chief Bruce Brooks said.
Police were called to perform a welfare check on Rebecca Westergaard after she did not arrive as planned at her niece’s home. She was found with injuries to her lower body outside on her front porch.
Investigators determined she had been mauled and eaten by two pigs that belong to Westergaard’s neighbor and were wandering near her home.
Aggressive pigs that attack humans produce severe injuries due to trampling, kicking and biting, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Brooks said the investigation into the “horrible, horrible situation” is ongoing but that it’s not clear if the neighbor — whose identity has not been released — will be charged since the animals are considered livestock.
“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 told the Columbus Dispatch. “But being farm animals, it’s just not something we’ve ever dealt with here.”
The neighbor was advised to quarantine the pigs until further notice.
The chief said more details will be released when Westergaard’s autopsy is completed.
Pataskala is a town of about 18,000 roughly 20 miles east of Columbus.