PCSO: No charges in case of mail carrier mauled by 5 dogs

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla — A postal worker died after officials say she was attacked by dogs in a Putnam County neighborhood after her vehicle broke down.

Action News first told you about this back in August of 2022.

Now, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says there will be no charges and no one held responsible for this.

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The memorandum reviews the incident that took place on August 21 of 2022 where Pamala Rock, 61, was attacked by 5 dogs. The dogs escaped and attacked people several times in the past, and the owner had repeatedly tried to surrender them to Animal Control, without success.

The fatal attack took place outside his Interlachen residence when Pamela was performing her duties as a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service (USPS). Her vehicle broke down approximately 100 yards north of the residence. At some point, Ms. Rock exited her vehicle and walked back towards the home, which is surrounded by a wire style field fence and has at least one gate. The bottom of the fence line in front of the residence had been fortified by the owner, who has very limited means, with rocks, tree logs, cinder blocks, and other materials to prevent his dogs from escaping.

Once Ms. Rock was back in front of the residence on foot across from his mailbox, the dogs escaped from the fence and attacked her. The owner exited his residence and immediately began trying to get the dogs back inside of his yard by kicking, punching, and using other techniques.

At the time the dogs escaped, the gate was secured and closed. A neighbor heard the commotion, armed himself with a rifle, and fired approximately three (3) shots in an attempt to get the dogs off of Ms. Rock.

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The neighbor also called 911 for emergency assistance and provided them with updates until the owner was able to get the dogs back inside of the fence. Law enforcement and paramedics arrived on scene and medical attention was immediately administered to Ms. Rock. She was ultimately life flighted to an out-of-county hospital where she unfortunately passed away.

The State Attorneys Office stated the following:

“Florida law states that ‘[i]n order for negligence to be culpable, it must be gross and flagrant. Culpable negligence is a course of conduct showing reckless disregard of human life, or of the safety of persons exposed to its dangerous effects, or such an entire want of care as to raise a presumption of a conscious indifference to consequences, or which shows wantonness or recklessness, or a grossly careless disregard for the safety and welfare of the public, or such an indifference to the rights of others as is equivalent to an intentional violation of such rights.’”

“After the review and consideration of all of the evidence in this case, particularly the multiple attempts by [the owner] to surrender the dogs to Putnam County Animal Control and his actions in fortifying his fence in multiple places with multiple materials to prevent any of the dogs from escaping, there is insufficient evidence to prove that [the owner] demonstrated a willful or wanton reckless disregard under the circumstances beyond and to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt.”

Related read: Mail carrier dies after being attacked by 5 dogs in Interlachen, deputies say

The five dogs were taken into custody by Animal Control. PCSO said that the owner has relinquished custody of the dogs and they have been humanely euthanized.

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