A Tennessee man was killed just hours after welcoming into his home what he thought would be his newest family member.
Instead, 57-year-old Anthony Riggs was mauled to death by a stray Rottweiler he had adopted that same day from a county pound. His wife, Kathy, found his unresponsive body on the ground Thursday when she came home with a co-worker.
Both Kathy and her co-worker, Teresa Sanchez, were reportedly bitten by the 5-year-old dog upon entering the home.
Madison County Sheriff's deputies arrived on scene, where they shot the Rottweiler after it ran out of the house and charged toward a group of onlookers. EMS workers also arrived and pronounced Riggs dead.
Local investigators are now probing the death while local residents question why the dog had been put up for adoption in the first place.
According to the NY Daily News – which cites Kim Tedford, director of the county's Regional Health Department -- the dog had been found five days earlier and bit no handlers while he was in custody.
Officials “by no means would adopt an animal out that showed any signs of aggression,” Tedford said.
Adrienne Riggs, the victim’s ex-wife, told The Jackson Sun her former husband was an animal lover.
“He never hesitated to be with dogs. Sometimes I thought he related to dogs better than to people,” she said. “Tony was a good man and a loving man and a good person with animals and he didn’t deserve to die the way that he did.”
