A mother of four from Alabama was shockingly and tragically mauled to death by a pack of at least seven dogs while out for a walk on Monday, three days before she was set to celebrate her 37th birthday.

Daily Mail reported that Ruthie Mae Brown was attacked by the animals at around 2pm in the town of Nauvoo, and she was already dead by the time police arrived on the scene. Even the most seasoned local police officers were stunned by what happened to Brown, who was the mother of four boys.

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“I’ve seen a dog bite, I’ve seen a dog attack but I’ve never seen a situation just as horrible as this,” Walker County Sheriff’s Office PIO TJ Armstrong told ABC 33/40.

Armstrong added that witnesses said that seven or eight dogs were involved in Brown’s death, and officers have caught four of them. The official cause of death has yet to be determined, but the coroner noted severe trauma from the attack. Police are still investigating, but they already believed that the dogs involved in the attack were pets.

Local resident Robin Johnson said that the pack of dogs were infamous in the area for their aggressive antics.

“It is really scary. I’ve seen them actually attack a deer,” she said, adding that she had almost been attacked by the dogs herself before.

“I actually had a stick in my hand which I know the owners name and I would call the owners name and they would back off,” Johnson explained. “They’re really aggressive dogs. They were very aggressive. If I wouldn’t have known the owner’s name it probably would have happened to me.”

Sheriff Nick Smith stated that all of the dogs will be turned over to the Walker County Humane Society once they are captured. At the time of this writing, police are still trying to track down three of the canines. District Attorney Bill Adair is still deciding if any criminal charges will be filed in relation to this tragedy. Filing charges may be a bit difficult, however, given the fact that there is no leash law in the area.

This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.

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