PATASKALA, Ohio — A 75-year-old woman who died on Christmas Day after being attacked by her neighbor’s pig succumbed to extensive blood loss, according to the Licking County Coroner’s Office.
Rebecca Westergaard was found deceased outside her home in the 4000 block of Mink Street in Pataskala after relatives became concerned when she did not arrive for a holiday gathering. A police officer who responded to the scene saw a large pig on the property. Further investigation pointed to the pig, owned by a neighbor, being involved in the woman’s injuries.
According to Ken Ford, an Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator at Ohio State University, pigs are naturally inquisitive, and if they were more pets than farm animals, they may have set upon Westergaard believing she could play with or feed them.
“There could be a lot of factors that would have been involved in this depending upon how these pigs were raised,” he said.
Ford said that pigs don’t “hunt” humans, but they can cause significant harm under the wrong circumstances.
“Yes, there are horror stories where people in hog barns have gotten hurt and gotten in a pen and the pigs have basically mauled them to death … because they naturally are scavengers,” he said. “But as far as hunting them down and going after them directly to kill them or to eat them, that probably wasn’t their original intent. It was probably that they were looking for food and they knew that a human (had) fed them previously.”
Pataskala Police Chief Bruce Brooks said the city has had no prior complaints about the pig involved in the attack. The neighbors own at least two pigs and were ordered by police to quarantine them until further notice.
The Licking County Prosecutor’s office is looking at charges against the pig’s owner, who has not been identified publicly. However, Brooks acknowledged that Ohio law regarding animal attacks — especially involving large livestock — can be complex.
“It’s the same statute … it’s animals at large,” he said. “If you look at the charge for animals at large, one might think that maybe that’s not enough punishment, if that’s the right word. … But unfortunately, I think that’s maybe the direction it’s going. But again, I think that’s something for the prosecutor’s office.”
Deputy Coroner and Chief Forensic Pathologist Dr. C. Jeff Lee confirmed to Farm and Dairy that the victim’s death was primarily due to bleeding. She was not partially eaten by the pig, as was initially reported by some media outlets.
“The skin was torn. That’s why we called it an extensive superficial injury because it’s the skin, the immediately underlying fat layer and the immediately top muscle layer — was torn,” he said.
The family member who called in the welfare check told dispatchers that Westergaard had recently had surgery and other medical conditions. Lee added that there was no indication the pig repeatedly attacked Westergaard or spent long with her after she collapsed.
While toxicology results are pending, his office considers the case largely closed.
“I’ve never had another case where I’ve known for sure pigs were the attacker,” Lee said. “I’ve had dogs, other wild animals, but not pigs. But you don’t have this situation very often, right?”
