A 75-year-old woman was reportedly partially eaten by her neighbor's pigs in Pataskala, Ohio.
Police were initially called to perform a welfare check on 75-year-old Rebecca Westergaard in Pataskala because she had not arrived as planned at her niece's home in Norton, just outside Akron, and her family had not been able to reach her. Police arrived at Westergaard's home and found her dead on her property near her house.
The circumstances appear similar to escaped dog incidents, but police and prosecutors are unsure what to do about the animals or their owner: "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," Pataskala Police Chief Bruce Brooks told the Columbus Dispatch. "But being farm animals, it's just not something we've ever dealt with here."
Local media is writing it up as an investigation into the pigs' "contribution" to the woman's death. Aficionados of the "exonerative tense" in headlines are well-advised to keep their thoughts in reserve until the coroner is done.
