Two Pitbulls, In Virginia, Mauled Their Owner To Death

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The scene that confronted Goochland County Sheriff Jim Agnew and his deputies was so grisly that he had to pause as he described it in front of reporters.

“I observed, as well as four other deputy sheriffs observed, the dogs eating the rib cage on the body,” Agnew said at a news conference this week.

The series of events that led to that gruesome scene — two dogs guarding Bethany Lynn Stephens’s bloodied remains after authorities say they mauled her to death while on a walk in rural Virginia — have been the subject of speculation, rumors and anger. Why did these two dogs, which friends said had a strong bond with Stephens, turn on their most important human? Agnew doubted that the question would ever be clearly answered.

But one thing is certain: The attack could have never happened out of the blue.

“I don’t think they were walking in the woods and they eyed each other and said, ‘Now is the time to attack her,’ ” said Liz Stelow, a clinician at the veterinary school at the University of California at Davis.

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