Dogs may have mauled Friendswood woman to death

Seems like every time we turn around these days, there's another story about a dog attack — but there was a particularly unusual (and gruesome) one this weekend. In Friendswood, landscapers showed up at Pamela Rushing's house to mow her lawn Saturday evening and discovered Rushing lying in a pool of blood, apparently mauled to death by her own dogs. A neighbor called the police, and one officer had to shoot a bulldog to death when it tried to attack him; the other two dogs — a golden retriever and an Alaskan collie — were captured alive (though the collie escaped from the fenced yard and ran through the neighborhood for a while before being cornered and Tasered by the police).

According to KTRK, Rushing suffered "severe wounds" to her upper body during the mauling; a Friendswood police spokeswoman said her body was so mutilated that identifying her was difficult. Even so, Rushing's family told KHOU that they don't blame the dogs for her death: They say Rushing, 50, was diabetic and they believe she might have suffered some kind of attack before the dogs got to her. In any case, the incident shook Friendswood up: "You read about it in the newspapers and you see it in the newscast and you see that it happens in other communities and you shake her head and say, 'How can this happen?'" Friendswood police chief Bob Wieners said. "And lo and behold, it happens right here in the city of Friendswood."

Police say they believe only one dog — the bulldog that ended up being shot — actually mauled Rushing; an investigation is under way to determine details, including the time and manner of death. The remaining two dogs are in the custody of Friendswood Animal Control.