A Jackson County judge today ordered that four dogs be euthanized after mauling a woman to death.
Emily Colvin was killed Dec. 7 in front of her Section home on County Road 121. Section is a small town in northeast Alabama. Authorities have said 24-year-old Colvin was attacked by five dogs, including one that was shot by authorities. A second woman also was injured in an attack by the dogs.
District Judge Don Wood ruled the pit bulls are "dangerous animals," according to court documents.
"The Court finds a preponderance of the evidence that the four pit bull dogs have caused death to one human being and seriously physical injury to another human being and shall be humanely euthanized," Wood wrote in an order released Tuesday afternoon.
Wood ordered the dogs' owners Brian and Melody Graden to pay $1,053 to the county for impounding, feeding and caring for the dogs since the fatal attack.
The Gradens have 14 days to appeal the judge's ruling.
Colvin's death was the second fatal dog attack in north Alabama in less than two weeks. On Nov. 29, a 46-year-old woman was mauled to death by dogs in Marshall County.