Woman Eaten by Neighbor's Pigs in Fatal Christmas Attack

23 hours ago 4

A 75-year-old woman was killed and partially eaten by her neighbor's pigs during a horrifying attack that unfolded on Christmas Day, a local police chief has confirmed.

Rebecca Westergaard, of Pataskala, Ohio, was mauled by two animals that were roaming free near her home on Mink Street, Pataskala Police Chief Bruce Brooks told The Columbus Dispatch on Monday.

The alarm was raised by Westergaard's niece who had been expecting her to visit that afternoon. Officers who were sent to conduct a welfare check discovered her aunt's ravaged body on her property.

Newsweek has reached out by email to Pataskala Police seeking further information and comment.

Why It Matters

As Westergaard's family grieves her loss and comes to terms with the violent nature of her death, the police must assess the case and examine the law to establish whether a crime has been committed.

Unlike a dog attack, where owners may be held responsible, a death caused by farm animals is "just not something we've ever dealt with here," Brooks said.

Pigs are known to attack humans, but fatalities tend to be caused by feral animals, such as wild boars, rather than domestic livestock. More humans are killed annually by wild pigs than by sharks, according to a report in Farm Journal. Between 2014 and 2023, the average yearly number of fatal shark attacks worldwide was 5.8, while the average number of fatal wild pig attacks was 19.7.

However, domestic attacks are not unheard of either. A 2021 report in Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology recorded an attack where a 49-year-old was found dead in his farm's pigsty with a sow and her piglets. The authors noted: "Domestic pigs are usually placid but they can become aggressive if disturbed and attack humans producing severe injuries due to trampling, kicking and biting." The farmer had suffered "massive injuries involving soft tissues, bones, and regional vessels, tendons, and nerves" and his death "resulted from severe bleeding from massive upper extremities injuries," the report said.

What To Know

Pataskala Police are still investigating to determine the exact circumstances of Westergaard's death.

The 75-year-old had been due to leave her home at about 10.30 a.m. to visit her niece in Norton, Ohio, on Christmas Day. She lived alone and when she still had not arrived by 2.45 p.m. her concerned family called the police to request a welfare check.

Dispatched police officers subsequently found Westergaard's body, which had been partially eaten. It is not clear where the pigs were at that time or how they were identified as the animals that attacked Westergaard, and Newsweek has requested clarification from police.

It is also not yet clear whether the pigs have been located and returned to their owner.

The pig's owner—a neighbor of Westergaard, who has not been publicly identified—has not been charged with a crime, although police said they are in the process of establishing whether any offense has been committed.

An autopsy is due to be carried out, with the results expected within four to six weeks.

What People Are Saying

Pataskala Police Chief Bruce Brooks said the case is a "horrible, horrible situation." He added that officers are still establishing whether there is a criminal case to answer.

"If it was a pit bull or a rottweiler, or name any of the other 15 dogs that are deemed semi-aggressive, then we would know the answer right away. But being farm animals, it's just not something we've ever dealt with here," he said.