Pam Rock, 61, a rural postal carrier, was killed by a pack of dogs in Interlachen, Florida.
No Charges After Mauling
UPDATE 03/03/23: The State Attorney’s Office is not filing charges against the owner of a dog pack that killed a rural postal carrier last year in Putnam County. U.S. Postal Service employee Pam Rock, 61, was on her mail route in Interlachen on August 21 when her vehicle broke down. Upon exiting the truck, she was attacked by five large dogs belonging to Edgar Jowers. Deputies applied multiple tourniquets to control the bleeding, but she died of her injuries the next day.
Jowers' dogs routinely escaped his property and roamed the area, neighbors said. Putnam County animal control had been called to the area four times in the past. At least three calls were to Jowers’ home about his dogs. What we did not know last August is that Jowers had tried to surrender his dogs to animal control twice because he could no longer care for them; each request was ignored or denied. He also tried to fortify his “wire” fence to keep the dogs from escaping.
The Palatka Daily News obtained the 101 page investigation carried out by the State Attorney’s Office through a public records request. State officials summarized in their findings that given Jowers' actions --- his attempts to surrender the dogs and his attempts to fortify his fence -- they found “insufficient evidence" to prove the dogs’ owner “demonstrated a willful or wanton reckless disregard under the circumstances beyond and to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt.”
According to the filing, Putnam County Animal Control was first contacted about the dogs on September 15, 2021 because they needed to be fed. At that time, Jowers was incarcerated for a family felony offense. He was not released until October 5, 2021, which is why someone else was given the task of feeding his dogs. That person, who ended up contacting animal control, could not enter the property “because one of the dogs was too aggressive,” according to the State's filing.
The first time Jowers reached out to the county agency to surrender his dogs was on February 4, 2022. The call had been left on the agency’s answering machine. Due to a lack of resources, that call was never returned. No one from animal control spoke to Jowers. One week later, his dogs escaped again and attacked a man walking by Jowers’ property. The severity of his injuries required treatment at a hospital. Deputies told Jowers to home quarantine the dogs for 10 days.
The dogs attacked a second time too. On August 10, a woman filed a complaint that these dogs had escaped and attacked her vehicle. Animal control contacted Jowers and ensured that he made an effort to fortify his “wire” fence once again. During this meeting, Jowers tried to surrender his dogs again, but his request was denied. Eleven days later, the dogs escaped the fencing again and brutally attacked Rock after she exited her truck that had stalled close to Jowers’ property.
According to the State's filing, at no point did animal control attempt to classify the dogs as dangerous. Apparently, due to the county’s “no-kill” policies they do not accept owner surrenders, unless the intake situation is “dire.” At this very same time, the Putnam County shelter was over capacity due to its no-kill policies, which places the 90% “save rate” priority over public safety. The agency continues to beg for a newer and bigger shelter too, so they can warehouse more dogs.
Limited Intake Policies
We have seen multiple fatal dog attacks due to limited intake policies. On February 25, 2019, four of Courtney White’s pit bulls viciously attacked a man and killed a dog. At that time, White called Lubbock Animal Services to surrender the dogs, stating he could no longer keep them secure -- part of his backyard fence had blown down. The alleged “open admission” shelter told him he needed to “make an appointment” to drop off the dogs and the earliest timeslot was March 1.
On February 27, all six of White’s pit bulls escaped and fatally attacked Johnnie Mae Garner, 88. After the dogs killed Garner, animal control seized all six pit bulls -- no “waiting period” was required. During this same year, Johana Villafane, 33, was forced to board her two biting pit bulls at a private veterinary facility because the bite quarantine block at the Irving Animal Shelter was “at capacity.” While visiting her dogs at the veterinary facility, they attacked and killed her.
For inexplicable reasons last year, after a pack of dogs belonging to Brandy Dowdy viciously attacked Michele Sheeks, who had to be airlifted to a trauma unit, Franklin County Animal Control did not seize Dowdy’s vicious dogs. The very next day, Jaqueline Summer Beard, an Alabama Department of Health employee, went to Dowdy’s home under the impression they had been seized. She was wrong -- the dogs attacked and killed her. Her estate is now suing the county.
Three of these cases involve a “pack” of large dogs known to be dangerous due to previous attacks within a few days of the fatal attack. White had six pit bulls, a blown down fence and two previous victims. Would that qualify as a “dire” situation for intake? Jowers could not keep his pack of large, powerful dogs inside a flimsy “wire” fence held down by cinderblocks and rocks. Shouldn’t a “pack” of large dogs with a history of escaping and biting qualify as a “dire” situation for intake?
An Intake and Disposition Report from Putnam County Animal Control from August 10, 2022 to August 23, 2022 is filled with zeros. There were 0 intakes, 0 adoptions, 0 dogs being quarantined, 0 euthanasia, 0 escaped or stolen, 0 service calls and most importantly, there were 0 bites.
08/24/22: Dogs Escaped Enclosure
On Tuesday, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office held a press conference regarding the death of Pamela Rock, 61, a rural postal carrier, who died one day after being viciously attacked by five dogs while working her route in Interlachen. Deputies found Rock lying in the street with "heavy trauma." They applied multiple tourniquets to control the bleeding, Col. Joseph Wells said. The dogs were initially behind a wire fence, but were able to escape underneath it, Wells said.
There was no evidence of a breeding operation at the site. The owner of the dogs is cooperating, Wells said. We are treating this as a criminal investigation, he said. Sheriff's deputies and animal control officers had responded to this area four times in the past three years for animal-related calls, Wells said. At least two of those previous calls were related to the same address. It is not confirmed if those calls involved one or more of the same dogs that attacked Rock, he said.
Several neighbors, including the dogs' owner, rushed to pull the dogs off Rock. "One of the neighbors even brought his firearm along and fired several shots into the air and to the ground in an attempt to disrupt the attack," Wells said. "The investigation is still very active," Wells said. His office is in communication with the state attorney's office. However, in the state of Florida, a felony offense is only possible if one of the attacking dogs had previously been declared dangerous.
The New York Times spoke to a Ms. Campell, who lives near the dogs' owner and saw the ambulance and deputies drive down the dirt road and park beside the house where the five dogs resided. "They’re all aggressive," Campbell said, referring to the dogs. Those dogs "jumped the fence all the time," she said, causing problems in the neighborhood. Tyler Neelon, 24-years old, who lives next door to the dogs' owner, said the dogs once got loose and killed a chihuahua.
"They did not just attack her. They were ripping her apart." - Kaydee Richley
WTLV spoke to Rock's niece, Kaydee Richley, who described some of Rock's injuries. "She had one arm amputated before she passed and they had her other limbs in slings trying to save them," Richley said. "Her heart stopped twice and her blood pressure was all over the place," she said. Devasted, Richely wonders how this happened. "How did it get so far? Why was there just so many dogs just able to get to her? Where were the owners? Why were they not locked up?"
Putnam County Sheriff's Office press conference after a rural postal carrier was killed by dogs.
08/23/22: Dogs Kill Rural Postal Carrier
Putnam County, FL - On August 21, a 61-year old postal carrier was attacked by a pack of dogs in the Interlachen Lake Estates area after her vehicle was reported to have broken down, states a media release from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. Putnam County deputies found the woman on the ground bleeding severely. Five dogs were nearby inside a fence at a residence in the 2000 block of Walker Drive. An unconfirmed social media post states the victim died late Monday.
On Tuesday, the victim was identified as 61-year old Pam Rock. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office also confirmed that she died.
Witnesses told deputies they saw the woman on the ground with five dogs attacking her. Several neighbors rushed to her aid, trying to pull the dogs off the woman. One neighbor shot a rifle into the ground to scare the dogs off. Arriving deputies began first aid, including applying tourniquets until rescue units arrived. The woman was taken to HCA Florida Putnam Hospital by ambulance then airlifted to a trauma center in Gainesville where she remained in critical condition Monday.
WJXT spoke to the man who shot the rifle. He said that helping the woman, "was the right thing to do," and that, "I would want someone to do it for me." She was a sweet lady who left "apples in the mailbox for the horse, and little notes here and there," he said. "She would ask about your kid, how your kid was doing." She was "a really nice lady," he said. Neighbors said the dogs involved were "bulldog-mixes," which in this part of the country means pit bull or American bulldog-mixes.
"Three of the four dogs suspected in the mauling death of a 62-year old doctor have been captured and are being held as evidence by police ... The dogs are reportedly "bulldog-mixes," which is a generic term in much of the south, including Georgia and Florida, that refers to both American bulldogs and fighting bulldogs -- pit bull terriers." - DogsBite.org, death of Dr. Nancy Shaw in Georgia, 2020
Another neighbor interviewed said the dogs have been a problem for a long time. The dogs routinely roamed the rural area, characterized by dirt roads, in a pack without collars or tags. "The dogs have been a nuisance for a long time," said the neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous. "They get into my garbage three or four days a week. When I try to shoo them away, they bark and growl and snarl at me." Animal control seized five dogs identified by witnesses in the attack.
POSTAL CARRIER ATTACKED BY DOGS SUNDAY IN INTERLACHENAugust 22, 2022 - A 61-year-old rural postal carrier was attacked by several dogs yesterday afternoon in the Interlachen Lake Estates area after her vehicle was reported to have broken down. Deputies responded found a woman on the ground with severe bleeding. Five dogs were nearby inside a fence at a residence in the 2000 block of Walker Drive.
Witnesses told deputies they heard a woman scream for help and when they went outside they saw her on the ground with five dogs attacking. Witnesses said several neighbors rushed to help by attempting to pull the dogs off and one neighbor shot a rifle into the ground to scare the animals. Deputies arriving on scene and started first aid assistance including applying tourniquets until rescue units arrived. The woman was transported to HCA Florida Putnam Hospital by ambulance and then flown to a trauma center in Gainesville where she remains in critical condition.
Animal Control arrived at scene and took custody of the five dogs identified by witnesses in the attack.
“Our hearts are with the victim and her family as they navigate through this tragic event,” Sheriff H.D. ‘Gator’ DeLoach said. “It is imperative that dog owners take responsibility in keeping their animals in a secured location for their safety and those around.”
This is an ongoing investigation. There is no further information available at this time. Additional information will be released when it becomes available. - Putnam County Sheriff's Office
The pit bull-mixes, American bulldog-mixes that killed USPS employee Pamela Jane Rock.
Google Street View captured an image of a dog running in the dog owner's yard in 2019.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Florida Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
06/30/23: My Sister Was Mauled to Death by Five Pit Bulls in Florida - Letter to Newsweek
11/19/20: 2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Killed by Pack of Dogs in Rural Jackson County, Florida
05/01/20: U.S. Postal Service Letter Carrier Murdered After Dispute Escalates Over Vicious Dog
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
I’m going to venture a guess and say that the neighbor couldn’t get a clear shot at the dogs. So, he aimed at the ground instead.
As for animal control seizing the dogs, I’m okay with that if euthanasia is the next step.
Those open-air postal trucks are made for easy-out, easy-in access. The ones that look like a hybrid of a small Jeep and a large golf cart. There is no protection whatsoever for postal carriers.
Because we are in this newer age of Frankenmaulers, a covered car for US mail carriers ought to be designed and manufactured asap.
Perhaps the US Postal Service should offer the protection of guns for their route employees, along w range training.
Nuzia: Did you stop to think through this post prior to hitting the send button?
Retired letter carrier.
Retired tactical paramedic.
LT, I did. What do you suggest as a means of protection against getting mauled to death? Death by pitbulls is a grisly death where the dogs are eating innocents before their death.
I see that the USPS does not generally allow concealed carry. In retrospect, I can see allowing firearms on routes would probably open up more problems for the USPS. Including a more stringent hiring protocol for route workers, more lawsuits, etc. So I can see this is inadvisable. To be clear, no firearms for route carriers or other postal workers in general as I previously suggested.
Nunzia’s idea and thoughts are great on this subject and sensible & rational. So I don’t know what ur problem is “L T”
Jay, bless your heart for supporting me. In this case, though, my second response to LT was a retraction of my earlier suggestion of arming the USPS route carriers. We are thinking of the tragedy of this dear woman’s life, Pam Rock, and other government employees murdered by pitbulls.
The arming of a currently unarmed agency, the USPS, would require the implementation of a program of enormous magnitude of resources and finances. Even though a government pension would be great, I personally would balk at the danger of being a route carrier in this age of Frankenmaulers.
Also, the USPS has been struggling in recent years.
I can see by the last sentence of my retraction that I wasn’t as clear as I had hoped to be.
BTW, I am guessing that LT is a former lieutenant of the military and is a vet of the Vietnam War, or Operation Desert Storm, or Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
I agree that ideally postal workers should be allowed to carry guns, but I also understand the enormous liability that would open the USPS up to (which is why most employers do not allow employees to carry.) I think pepper spray and dog whistles should be allowed, but these may have limited affect on pitbulls. I think it would be good that an employee that has gone through a certain level of conceal carry training on their own time and expense, should be allowed to carry…..but these people may already be carrying, recognizing that they will be fired and lose any possible pension if they should ever have to use their gun.
I think postal workers should be allowed to refuse deliveries, and indeed encouraged to refuse deliveries, in dangerous situations. My understanding (and this may differ from city to city) is that someone with a dangerous dog is 1st given a warning and 30 days to build a fence or whatever to keep their dog contained, and then if the situation isn’t rectified, their postal delivery is stopped. I think it should be immediate, if a postal worker feels a dog is dangerous or fence in adequate, it should be an automatic stoppage of postal delivery until the situation is rectified.
great idea!
My neck of the woods. Again. Putnam is one of the poorest counties in Florida. I’m surprised Animal Control turned up at all. Nearly the entire county is rural. A lot of poverty and drugs. There are leash laws, but no one to enforce them. Also, lots and lots of dog fighting. People are well advised to keep their normal dogs close. They disappear, stolen, to be used as bait dogs.
It said they were bulldog mixes.
So I guess that means they’re pitbull mixes. How horrible for the mail carrier. Shame on people who let their dogs run at large. Although the dogs did the deed, they couldn’t have done it without being loose. Blame the owner and destroy the dogs.l
Several thoughts on the attack by a pack of what appear to be pitbulls:
***Pam Rock, a federal employee. Several months ago Summer Beard was also attacked by a pack of pitbulls while working as a State of Alabama Public Health employee.
What does it take for America’s legislators to vote for a ban on all pitbulls and pitbull mixes in our country? This is a public health emergency. Children, adults, government employees murdered by pitbulls. Citizens afraid to be outdoors due to fears of being attacked.
***Pam Rock was youthful and fit. Her husband has lost decades of love and happiness that he had a right to expect. All due to people whose dogs Several thoughts on the attack by a pack of what appear to be pitbulls:
***Pam Rock, a federal employee. Several months ago Summer Beard was also attacked by a pack of pitbulls while working as a State of Alabama Public Health employee.
What does it take for America’s legislators to vote for a ban on all pitbulls and pitbull mixes in our country? This is a public health emergency. Children, adults, government employees murdered by pitbulls. Citizens afraid to be outdoors due to fears of being attacked.
***Pam Rock was youthful and fit. Her husband has lost decades of love and happiness that he had a right to expect. All due to people whose dogs were already a known threat.
so very true! so sad! soooo preventable! why won’t anyone listen that this breed needs to be banned?
I knew the victim and attended her memorial service. She was never married and once upon a time served in the Peace Corps. In her earlier years she worked at Yellowstone National Park and on an Indian Reservation teaching nutrition to mothers-to-be. My colleague lived a very full and happy life. She had a large family and was loved by so many and that was clear at her memorial service. She was also a huge UF Gator fan and was a member of the marching band when she attended the university. Pam was so excited to have the job with postal service because she loved new challenges. She told me a few stories about the customers she served. And she was a huge animal lover. In lieu of flowers for her funeral she wanted funds to go to her favorite animal shelter. The way she died was senseless.
Cry, thanks for your thoughts. I posted the link below to Pam’s obituary. My condolences to you on the loss of your friend. What a life of service she led! How fortunate you are to have known her!
Oops…that’s what happens when one nods off while posting.
Anyone who owns a vicious dog breed knows they are capable of harming someone and puts them in a place that the dog can repeatedly easily escape to the road knows what they are doing. That is a crime. A murderer.
How sad and inexcusable the dogs were loose and able to attack and kill her.
I wonder who is going to replace this mail carrier.
Who would want the job? Would he/she want to drive the same vehicle that led to this poor woman death.
That’s a very good point I hadn’t even thought of that I wish there was some way to monitor that situation
Interlatchen Grandin and Satsuma Dunn’s creek and near Hoot owl ridge road there are dogs barking and chasing cars driving by. If I had my window down they would jump in the car and attack. The dog owners need to know this is the same as a murder a very bad disgusting murder. If they think it is ok to be careless and let something like this happen, what they think is ok to allow could turn out to be them walking down that dirt road. Do on to others as you would have them do to you. My heart is broken to hear this. This should not have happened.
Essentially no other type of dog will enter a yard, a house or a vehicle to maul a victim.
It takes a game / insane /psychopath /Joel Guy Jr type of dog, that has no sense of limits, to commit these totally preventable horrors.
Debbie, what is horrifying to me is that sometimes pitbulls are entering homes thru a doggy door. Too dangerous to even safely own a dog.
As with all these death by dog cases, this is horrific and profoundly sad. This poor woman was only trying to do her job. I admire postal workers so much. They work tirelessly in all kinds of conditions and are frequently victims of dog attacks. Thank goodness most survive. Pam looks like a lovely, friendly person who loved her job and was loved by many. Her smile is dazzling. She deserved better. This makes me feel sick at heart. I’m afraid we’ll never be able to stop this. We cannot put the toothpaste back in the tube. These pits and pit mutts are ubiquitous. The shelters are packed with them. And, we have these moronic owners who let them run wild, destroying our sense of safety and wellbeing. May Pam rest in peace.
A life of service
Pam Rock obituary
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/pamela-rock-obituary?pid=202659109
The neighbor fired “several shots into the air and into the ground….”??? And acting like he did something good? Whoever that neighbor was has watched too many westerns and knows nothing about firearm safety. Every instructor will tell you to do neither. Those rounds would have been better served into the dogs, to try to save the woman’s life.
It’s too bad while the dogs spent years running loose ‘without collars or tags’ no one did the shoot, shovel, shut up routine or at least tossed them some poisoned meatballs. A life could have been saved.
Agreed KaD!
If I am counting correctly there have been 39 deaths by dog in the US this year so far. It seems that the hounds from the “pit” of hell have been unleashed. I agree that there needs to be more sss as mentioned by KaD. We the people need to stand up against homicidal stupidity.
Update from South Putnam County Neighborhood:
‘We’re scared:’ neighbors in Pomona Park rattled by series of dog attacks
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/community/neighbors-in-pomona-park-rattled-by-series-of-dog-attacks/77-b5bc27ca-7500-498e-981c-ee0f4a535aaa
Putnam County Animal Control does not sound as proactive as it should be.
“Jones fears the stray dogs might attack her pets. She says any time she calls Putnam County Animal Control, she’s told if she can capture the dog and bring it to them, they’ll take it.
It’s something she’s already had to do once – borrowing a crate, luring the stray in and driving it 30 miles to the shelter in Palatka.”
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/life/animals/putnam-county-trapping-stray-dogs/77-4438417e-6684-4732-b403-606be73473f6
I live in a city of 100,000.
All our roads are paved, we are in the northern half of the country.
Pretty far removed from the scene in this attack right?
Wrong.
Neighbor down the street has 2 pits, no collars, no tags.
They run loose all the time.
They don’t escape, I have watched the owner let them out and watch them run down the street.
I guess some night if they don’t come home he will go to the pound or his meth dealer and get a couple more.
They are far from the only ones.
When an ambulance or fire truck goes by (the police rarely get in enough of a hurry to use their sirens any more) it sounds like kennel for 5 minutes as all the yard and street dogs see who can bark the loudest.
Our animal control has drank the pit bull Flavor Aid so I don’t even bother calling them.
Most weeks our local TV station’s “pet of the week” is a pit with a scared up muzzle and torn up ears that they assure will make a “great pet” even though it doesn’t get along with kids, cats or other dogs.
All they would do is beg the owner to “make the dogs part of his pack” and move them in to the house. That and tell the owner I called and then I would have to deal with him.
Pit owners are usually worse than their dogs.
Trash truck nearly got one last week.
Sooner or later the problem will solve it self, for a while.
Then it will start all over again.
This post has been updated — there will be no charges in this case.
This March 3 Update is a powerful piece of writing! Great comprehensive analysis!
PETA takes Putnam County to account for its no-kill policy in its animal shelters. Copy of plea sent to U.S. Postal Service.
https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/fatal-dog-attack-prompts-plea-from-peta-to-overturn-countys-irresponsible-no-kill-policy/
Newsweek has featured an excellent editorial by Tom Rock, brother of Pam Rock, on June 30, 2023m. It has been published in the renowned column “My Turn” in both the print and the online editions.
My Sister Was Mauled to Death by 5 Pit Bulls in Florida
https://www.newsweek.com/sister-mauled-death-five-pit-bulls-florida-usa-1809914