Name Released of FC Woman Killed in Dog Attack; Neighbors Say Victim Knew the Dog Well

By Roberta Cantrell
BSN Editor

Authorities have released the name of a Floyd County woman who they said after viewing video footage confirmed her death was the result of an attack by a neighbor’s dog.

Sunday, April 24 around 3 p.m. the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office received word that a woman was found lying in the road on Railroad Street in the Maytown community and they believed she may be deceased.

The caller also reported a seeing a German Shepherd close to the victim.                    

Deputies arrived and found the woman, who they later identified as Cynthia “Cindy” Patton Prater, 64, who appeared to have been attacked by something.

Prater was a long-time resident of the community.

Floyd County Sheriff John Hunt said preliminary investigations revealed video footage of the incident.

“From what we can tell, and we’ve got pretty good visual of what happened, the dog and her were walking,” Hunt said. “The dog knocked her to the ground, for no reason, and then the attack came after that.”

During interviews with people who lived in the neighborhood, police learned that Prater was often seen walking along the road, and the dog would sometimes accompany her during her walks. They said this behavior from the dog was out of character and unexplainable.

“It wasn’t a strange dog. She knew who the dog was, and knew the dog’s owner. The dog had obviously walked with her several times,” Hunt said. “She had befriended the dog pretty good. Yesterday, whatever happened, obviously turned more tragic.”

An exact cause of death has not yet been released for Prater and officials say they are still working to figure out what happened. Those details, Hunt said, will be dependent on her autopsy findings.

The dog has been euthanized and is being preserved until it can be sent for necropsy.

“To see if maybe something triggered that dog, if something could’ve happened. Will base some of it on what the necropsy shows and obviously Miss Prater too. So, will hopefully find something that will give us maybe some indication of what happened with the dog.”

Hunt said the tragedy serves as a heartbreaking PSA to anyone who owns animals, encouraging them to make sure they are leashed. He said sometimes it is impossible to know something like this will take place.

“Obviously, this dog is a neighborhood dog. Cindy thought so too,” Hunt said. “And you’ve heard neighbors speak here in this office, too, they’ve known that dog for a long time. Obviously dogs are at large a lot in the counties, rural counties, not just Floyd County. You could say, ‘You’ve gotta watch these vicious dogs,’ but obviously there’s never been any kind of history where this dog had been vicious.”

The dog’s owner has not been publicly identified but neighbors say the person is distraught at what happened and they join the community in mourning Prater’s death.