A Brevard County neighborhood is demanding answers after a woman was mauled by two dogs while walking her pet near Cocoa, an attack that WESH 2 News reporter Meghan Moriarty said has left neighbors angry, frightened, and questioning whether earlier warnings were taken seriously.
Moriarty reported that 50-year-old Jodi Cowan was attacked early Tuesday on Blue Bonnet Drive and later died at the hospital from her injuries. The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office told WESH 2 that the two dogs involved had been seized by animal control, but no arrests had been made as of the report because the case remained under investigation.
For Cowan’s longtime partner, Donnell Smith, the loss is not only devastating but almost impossible to process, especially because he says he and others had already warned authorities that the dogs were getting loose and acting aggressively in the neighborhood.
“She was a great woman,” Smith told WESH 2. “She just loved people, loved dogs more than people, and for her to go out that way, it’s not right.”
Smith said he had just returned home shortly after 1 a.m. after helping neighbors across the street when he realized Cowan and one of their dogs were gone. Then he heard a faint cry for help, followed by a sight he told Moriarty he will never forget.
“I saw the silhouette of the two dogs dragging my wife down the road, off into the grass in front of the truck down there,” Smith said.
“I’ll Never Get That Image Out Of My Mind”
Smith told Moriarty that he found Cowan lying in a pool of blood, covered in bites, and that the dogs came back and tried to drag her away from him as he fought to protect her.
“I pulled my knife out, you know, just swinging with it one hand and holding the blood with the other, trying to stop her from bleeding,” Smith said.
He was eventually able to call 911, and Cowan was flown to the hospital, but she died from her injuries hours later. The brutality of the attack has left Smith grieving not only the death of the woman he loved, but the way she died in a neighborhood where they had only recently moved.
“It was brutal,” Smith told WESH 2. “Seeing the same woman I’ve loved for the last 25-30 years just ripped apart by two animals was just … I’ll never get that image out of my mind.”
There are tragedies that feel sudden because no one could have seen them coming, and then there are tragedies that leave people asking whether warning signs were missed. This case clearly falls into the second category for the neighbors who spoke with Moriarty, because several of them say the dogs had been a concern long before the fatal attack.
Security Cameras Captured The Moments Before
Moriarty reported that neighborhood security cameras captured the attack, though the full video was not shared publicly because of how disturbing it is.
Dominica Midkiff, a neighbor whose cameras captured the incident, showed WESH 2 still images from the footage. In one image, Cowan could be seen behind a car. Other images showed the two dogs that Midkiff said mauled her neighbor.
Midkiff told Moriarty the dogs had been along the fence line playing with her dog before the attack.
“They saw her and they attacked her,” Midkiff said.
She described the footage as deeply disturbing, saying it showed the pain and trauma Cowan endured. Midkiff also told WESH 2 that she had seen the dogs many times before and that, in ordinary moments, they could seem friendly.
“They come up to you. They pet them. They love on you. They jumped your fence. They played with your dogs because they jumped other people’s fences,” Midkiff said. “And then all of a sudden it’s just a flip of a switch.”
That description captures one of the most frightening parts of neighborhood dog disputes: a dog can seem familiar, even affectionate, until the moment something changes. For neighbors who had already watched the dogs escape yards and cross property lines, the danger no longer feels theoretical.
Neighbors Say Earlier Calls Were Ignored
According to Moriarty, Brevard County Animal Services left a notice on the dog owner’s fence after the attack, and the sheriff’s office confirmed the dogs had been taken.
Neighbors, however, told WESH 2 they believe action came too late.
“Now that this has happened, that Brevard Animal Control finally steps in after,” Midkiff said, according to Moriarty’s report. She added that, from what she knew, the dogs had been in that household’s life for at least seven months and that authorities had been called before.
Smith made a similar allegation, saying he had previously warned the sheriff’s office about the dogs.
“I told them that she had those two pits that get out all the time and run the neighborhood and have been aggressive towards people, and they didn’t do anything about it,” Smith told WESH 2. “My wife lost her life because of it.”
WESH 2 said it reached out to the sheriff’s office about previous complaints involving the neighbor’s dogs. A spokesperson said the investigation was active and ongoing and that more information would be provided as it became available.
It is important to let investigators sort out the official record of prior complaints, response times, ownership responsibility, and what local law allowed authorities to do before the fatal attack. Still, when multiple neighbors say they feared the dogs before someone died, the public deserves a clear explanation of what was reported and what was done.
A Woman Who Loved Dogs
One of the most heartbreaking details in Moriarty’s report is that Cowan was not described as someone who disliked or feared animals.
Smith said she loved dogs, and before the attack, he said Cowan had even helped free one of the same dogs when its collar became stuck in their fence. That makes the fatal encounter feel even more cruel, because the victim was someone who had shown kindness toward the animals now at the center of the investigation.
Smith told WESH 2 he believes the dogs may have been chasing the couple’s small dog when Cowan tried to intervene.
“They must have been chasing our little dog, and she went to save her little dog to get him,” Smith said. “And then they switched their attention to her when she tried to get them off our little dog.”
That remains his suspicion, not an official conclusion, but it fits the painful picture described by the people who knew her: a woman who may have been trying to protect her pet when she became the target of the attack.
Calls For Charges As The Investigation Continues
Moriarty reported that both Smith and several neighbors want the dogs’ owners to be charged. As of the WESH 2 report, the sheriff’s office had not announced arrests, and the case was still under review.
The legal question will likely turn on what investigators can prove about the dogs’ history, whether their owners knew or should have known they posed a risk, and whether any prior reports created a record of danger. The moral question, at least for Cowan’s neighbors, already feels painfully clear.
They believe this should not have happened.
A fatal dog attack is not just a private tragedy for one household. It shakes an entire neighborhood because it turns a routine act, walking a dog down the street, into something that suddenly feels unsafe.
For Smith, the loss is personal and permanent. For neighbors like Midkiff, the images captured on camera are now part of a larger demand for accountability.
And for the authorities investigating the case, the central question is no longer only what happened on Blue Bonnet Drive that morning, but whether enough was done before Jodi Cowan ever stepped outside with her dog.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
