Update: Dogs accused of killing 22-year-old Virginia woman euthanized

26
41
Spread the love

The two dogs accused of mauling to death a Virginia woman  while she had been out in the woods walking this week have been euthanized. On Sunday morning, the Law Offices of Matthew Albert Esq. posted the tragic news on Facebook:

“UPDATE: dogs have been killed. Confirmed by the sheriffs department. I will leave this up for awhile and then delete the post as it obviously is no longer applicable. I think a grave injustice has been done here, and a murderer may be walking free… but there is no undoing it at this point. What a tragedy. I apologize for getting people’s hopes up… all reports were that euthanasia was pending… not that it had already happened…”

Prior to the news, the law office had been hoping to get the dogs to safety:

“Our rescue (Against All Oddz Animal Alliance Inc.) and law practice will be seeking to get these dogs out of harms way ASAP so that this lovely woman can Rest in Peace….”

Bethany Lynn Stephens, 22, was found dead, in what has been described as a “grisly” scene last Thursday evening – two days after she was last seen taking her two bully breed dogs for a walk in her Goochland neighborhood. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, Bethany’s father found her body being guarded by the “very large, brindle-colored pit bull dogs.” Goochland County Sheriff James L. Agnew, stated in his nearly 40 years in law enforcement, he had never seen anything quite like this. At the scene, police gathered shredded pieces of clothing covered with blood for evidence.

Many animal behaviorists, friends of Bethany and veterinarians believe there was much more to this story. A family friend, Barbara Norris told CBS6News, that she did not believe the dogs would kill Bethany; both dogs slept with her in bed every night.

“Those dogs would not attack her,” Barbara said. “They’d kill you with kisses.”

Dr. Amy Learn, a veterinarian who did not know Bethany nor the dogs, also found it very strange for dogs to overtly attack their owner unless there was some kind of provocation leading to the dogs’ aggression which caused fear.

“Was there somebody else there? Were they being attacked by somebody? Were they trying to defend themselves and their owner from somebody else, from a wild animal? Was it actually something else that attacked the owner? Were there stray dogs, coyotes [or] something else in the woods?” Learn asked during the Cbs6News interview.

Dogs can’t talk, and we may never know the real story why Bethany died and her dogs killed shortly afterwards. May you all rest in peace. Surely more could have been done to discover the real truth. Bethany and her dogs deserved so much more.

(Photo of Virginia woman and dogs via FB)

Read the original article here.

Follow the National Pet Rescue on Facebook.

Did you know that if you want to get updates from a Facebook page, you need to do more than “like” it? To get recent postings in your Facebook feed, you must also hover your mouse over the word “following” and then click “see first” from the drop-down menu. You may want to check back with your favorite pages on occasion because Facebook often changes your settings, no longer having your having your favorites among those to “see first.


Stray dog was being eaten alive by maggots before rescuers found her


Drowning puppy saved by unexpected hero


Spread the love

26 COMMENTS

  1. So devastating for all . I hope they do a thorough investigation and don’t close this case for the sake of her family and public safety.

  2. There is NO WAY I believe these two dogs are responsible for Bethany Stephen’s death – this was a fucking knee jerk reaction by authorities who immediately decided that her dogs were responsible. Because of the dog’s breed they were blamed and that is the bottom line – pit bulls are well known for their loyalty and dedication to their owners – BUT no investigation was done beyond accusing the dogs and that is where it ended. They killed Ms. Stephan’s beloved dogs because of their breed and that is the only reason – if it were two poodles it would have been a whole different story. May Ms. Stephens & her faithful companions rest in peace.

    • pit bulls are also known for turning on their owners.you are wrong her they know what happened. their are some inconsistent deceit in the above artical.this case is closed
      not all dog’s are good companions. do not be confuse. these dog’s did not sleep with her. the broken kennel is a deceive. I know how you feel about animals but these dog’s were not pets

  3. Guess the ptb’s didn’t want to get involved in litigation to save these poor dogs so they murdered them before anyone had chance to apply for a stay. They, the murderers, have blood on their hands.

    • no the dogs had her blood on their face, they were covered in her blood. your mistaken in our culture dog’s do have rites. they have indisputable forensic evidence, there is no debate here. they are responsible for her violent death

  4. BASTARDS! You never fully investigated the FACTS – choosing (in your ignorance) simply to kill them for their breed!
    RACIST PIGS!
    At least Bethany’s together with her precious Pibbles, at the Bridge – however sorrowful she must be, to learn of their fate…
    Now, the REAL killer(s) will never be known, ’cause these ‘Keystone Kops’ have no doubt closed their “investigation” (as they did, their minds)…

    • So true no one even tried to find out what actually happened the women got murdered and her poor dogs to, this is insane people who have kept dogs and know them know for a fact that a pet would never ever do something like this unless some thing was terribly wrong,Rest in Peace you are together.

  5. So sad that these people took the easy way out instead of checking further. These people need to be removed from their jobs! RIP furbabies, you were loved and probably just trying to protect your mommy!

  6. NO way would her dogs turn on her….. something else happened. Who ever caused this…will burn in hell! IF YOU KNOW something….REPORT IT!

  7. Heartbreaking but at least Brittany and her precious dogs are together for eternity. Such a rush to judgment, I truly hope the whole story will someday be known, and I hope these dogs didn’t die in vain!

  8. You euthanize dog’s before the this is even solved? Chances are the dog’s were running ahead of her and she was attacked by something else. The dog’s came back because she was in trouble and to guard her. If the sheriff isn’t smart enough to figure that out then he needs to be replaced. The only positive here is they are all together. I don’t believe her dog’s killed her why would they attack her and then guard her body doesn’t make sense.

  9. your gut feelings are a credit you.but unfortunately she was killed by her dog’s. the reason its so confusing is a mixture of bad journalism and the medical examiner’s findings and police who will not divulge details of the crime scene. with out question it was her dogs. the case is closed and its the family who asked the dogs be euthanized. she lived with her family. that should speak volumes.

  10. WHAT THE HELL WAS THE THOROUGH INVESTIGATION’S RESULTS? THEY COULDN’T WAIT BUT HAD TO QUICKLY EUTHANIZE THE DOGS. PEOPLE SAID THIS SOUNDS WEIRD. THIS WORLD SUCKS WHEN IT COMES TO ANIMAL RIGHTS, BUT BULLSHIT HURTING AN ANIMAL ABUSER IS OUT OF THE QUESTION. I AM SICK TO DEATH HOW QUICKLY SCUMBAGS WANT TO PUT DOWN AN ANIMAL WITHOUT THE FINAL RESULTS. I HOPE THEY ARE IN DISGUSTING PAIN WHEN THEY FIND OUT THE DOGS DIDN’T MAUL THIS WOMAN.

  11. If the investigators done their job then the dogs had her blood in their mouths, her skin on their teeth and no other animal DNA was found on her.
    If I was the family, I would demand to see the findings of the investigation.
    This is absolutely not what dogs do to their owners, especially when people who knew her say the dogs were very sweet and loving.
    I think a travesty has taken place, where the investigators are lazy and did a crappy job and killer is walking free. She was death threats against her, for God’s sake!

  12. The people of the town need to get rid of the sheriff if this is how he does his job. No investigation, no DNA, no animal experts, no animal forensic experts just jump to their own conclusions and closed the case.
    I hate to see what a horrible job they would do if a person was murdered by another person and an individual is standing over the body claiming they are innocent. Again this keystone cop would jump to conclusions that the person is guilty without any evidence.
    I hope the family sues the town & police dept for negligence of duty for not finding how this woman really died.
    And the town gets rid of the keystone cop if he’s elected vote for someone else, if appointed to go after the mayor to fire him.

  13. There is no way these dogs killed their owner than sat quietly guarding her body. They probably ran off and were separated from her and some other animal killed her and when they returned she was dead. They could have taken saliva and found dna results. Authority just want any answer so they can stop finding the truth. This was wrong. those dogs did not kill their best friend.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here