Georgia Injury Law Blog
Elderly Lexington Couple Mauled to Death in Dog Attack
Mystery still surrounds the death of a retired professor and his wife, apparently from a vicious dog attack.
On Saturday, the mutilated bodies of retired UGA professor 77-year-old Luther Karl Schweder, and his wife 65-year-old Sherry were found near their home in Lexington. Preliminary autopsies showed that Sherry had died from dog bite injuries. Her husband’s autopsy results are not yet available. But it’s very likely that Luther Schweder also died from injuries in the dog attack.
The couple’s bodies were found on Saturday morning. Authorities are zeroing in on at least 11 dogs that were seen in the area where the bodies were found.
There have been no recent dog attacks in the area, and there is still no indication if the pack of wild dogs were someone’s pets. Sherry herself owned several dogs, although it’s not believed that the dogs that attacked her were her own dogs.Sherry had apparently been out of the house looking for one of her dogs, and her husband apparently went out after her when she didn’t return.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the dogs were still around the dead bodies when the coroner arrived.As of now, there is still much mystery surrounding this tragedy.
Fatal dog bites may not be as common, but such attacks can be vicious. The dogs that attacked Schweder were mixed breeds, but generally, some breeds of dogs lseem to be more vicious and aggressive than others.
A dog bite attack has to be particularly vicious to result in death. Survivors, on the other hand, may be left with severe lacerations, and may require plastic surgery to restore their appearance. As Georgia dog bite lawyers will tell you, some of these attacks can be brutal enough to leave victims with ripped scalps, severed ears and several other painful and disfiguring injuries. Besides, survivors may face life-long trauma from their experiences.