An Ohio woman was attacked, killed, and partially eaten at her home by her neighbor’s pigs on Christmas Day, according to police.
Officials found the body of Rebecca Westergaard Rigney, 75, in her Pataskala home following a welfare check request. She failed to make it to her niece’s home on December 25.
Police found her deceased with “injuries to her legs” on the front steps of her residence at around 3pm on the same day. Officials said she was attacked by the pigs, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Officials also found a large pig inside the home. Two pigs were seen roaming near the property earlier and police believe those pigs attacked the woman.
Two other pigs were found at the neighbor’s home. The neighbor has not been identified.
Officials have determined she died from “bleeding out due to extensive superficial injuries by livestock animals.” Her death has been ruled an accident, according to WBNS. It’s also been reported that the woman had prior health conditions. Police told the owner the pigs would be “quarantined until further notice.”
The neighbor has not yet been criminally charged.
Pataskala Police Chief Bruce Brooks said the incident was further complicated by the fact the assailants were livestock and not pets.
“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,” he said. “But being farm animals, it’s just not something we’ve ever dealt with here.”
He called the woman’s death a “horrible, horrible situation.”
Westergaard Rigney’s neighbor, David Mullings, described the attack as “pretty crazy, wild because there’s not just wild pigs roaming. I’ve never seen pigs except for the market down the street so ... very confusing.
“This is a very quiet neighborhood. Nothing happens in this neighborhood,” he told WBNS. “I was shocked just to hear that two pigs had possibly killed a woman. It was a little shocking.”
