FALMOUTH, Trelawny – Members of a Trelawny family were in mourning Tuesday following the discovery of the badly mutilated body of an 83-year-old woman, who is believed to be mauled to death during an attack by dogs late Monday night.

The dead woman has been identified as Kathlyn Jump of Vanzie Lands, Falmouth.

Acting commander of the Trelawny Police Division, Deputy Superintendent of Police Winston Milton told reporters that about 6:30 am on Tuesday, the police responded to a report that an injured woman was seen in the Vanzie Lands area of Falmouth.

“On arrival the police saw the bloodied body of a female, later identified as Jump, lying on the road,” DSP Milton said.

He said that Jump, who moved around with the aid of a walker, was last seen at a shop near her home about 11:00 pm on Monday.

She reportedly left the shop soon afterwards and headed for home. It is believed that while she was on her way home the dogs attacked her.

Stacy-Ann Rose, Jump’s distraught daughter, said it was heart-wrenching to see her mother’s body on the road Tuesday morning.

“When me go down there and see me mother this morning (Tuesday) she rip up; it’s like the dogs dem rip her up and drag her. Her walker was full of blood, even the puddle of water full of blood. All her hair root-out. So it look like when them [dogs] drag her, dem bite her neck first,” Rose said, as she struggled to maintain her composure.

Her sister, Pansy Carey, who was equally devastated, said it is ironic that it was her mother 10 years ago who prevented her from attempting to kill the dogs, which she strongly suspects to have ripped her to death.

Carey recalled that about a decade ago, her daughter, who was seven at the time, was attacked by four dogs, including a pit bull and a German Shepherd.

“My mother saved me from killing those dogs. She tell mi sey ‘if you kill the dogs bad blessing a go follow you’. My daughter was seven years old when they attacked her. She is going 17 now. When they attacked her first I made up my mind to get rid of those dogs,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“From those dogs were six-month puppies they were vicious. They started to attack a little crippled girl. Then they attacked a next guy, my daughter, then my niece,” she added.

DSP Milton, meanwhile, pointed out that even though while it is suspected that Jump was mauled to death by dogs, the police were continuing their probe to conclusively determine the cause of death.

“It is suspected that she was attacked and mauled by dogs. We are in the early stage of our investigation and it is just an unfortunate situation, but we are not really decisive as to the cause of death now. We have only just commenced investigations at this point. We are not just confining our investigations to dogs but we have conducted some investigations in the space where we would have interviewed persons from within the locale,” he said.

“We are awaiting the result of a post mortem examination as we progress our investigation.”

More than a year ago the House of Representatives passed the Dogs (Liability for Attacks) Act 2020, which provides for criminal and civil liability for an owner of a dog that attacks, injures and/or causes the death of a person.

Passage of the Bill follows several vicious attacks by dogs on members of the public, which led to a national outcry for the existing 1877 Act to be amended, as it had no provision for criminal sanctions for negligence of persons whose dogs attack or injury members of the public.

Fines from $500,000 to $3 million, or imprisonment from six months to 15 years, are being proposed as criminal penalties, when an individual is attacked by a dog.

The Bill also provides for civil liabilities if the dog causes injury in any place other than its home or where it is normally kept.