Woman's Death Ruled Suicide by Pit Bull

But details of Rebecca Hardy's death are still murky
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 9, 2015 11:40 AM CST
Medical Examiner: Woman's Death Was Suicide by Pit Bull
Stock image.   (Shutterstock)

Rebecca Hardy jumped a fence and entered a backyard on Thursday in Port Huron, Mich., where she was mauled by two dogs and later died. It's been a mystery why the 22-year-old entered the yard, but the Oakland County Medical Examiner's office has now ruled her death a suicide, the Port Huron Times Herald reports. No details as to what's behind the ruling have been reported. After Hardy entered the yard, a witness tried to stop the dogs—a pit bull and a pit bull-husky mix—from attacking her and then alerted the dogs' owner to what was happening; the owner eventually got the dogs off of Hardy, but she died at a hospital after extensive facial and neck injuries.

The two adult dogs were euthanized Friday, along with a puppy also owned by the same person, after the owner gave consent. But he later rescinded that consent, and three puppies who had not yet been euthanized were saved. The three-week-old puppies are currently with an animal rescue organization foster family, being hand-fed, the Times Herald reports. Hardy's fiance lives on 10th Street, where the house with the dogs is located, and he previously speculated she may have been trying to cut through the yard to get from an alleyway behind the house to 10th Street. He lives just a block from the house, CBS Detroit reports, and the Huron Daily Tribune says Hardy lived with him, along with their 18-month-old daughter. (This equally unusual suicide involved a reptile.)

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