Owner of escaped pigs that mauled woman to death must pay $200, OH officials say

The owner of pigs that escaped and mauled a neighbor to death on Christmas Day in Ohio must pay a $200 fine, news outlets report.

Judge David Stansbury handed down the sentencing Tuesday, April 15, in a Licking County courtroom, WSYX reported. He called the case “almost surreal,” and, to his surprise, there were no serious charges that could be brought against the 51-year-old woman who owned the pigs.

“We were kind of at a loss that there weren’t any other statutes on the books that would be more on point,” Stansbury said, the station reported.

The owner of the pigs was charged with a count of animals at large, a misdemeanor, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Rebecca Westergaard, who was in her 70s, was found dead on the porch of her Pataskala home after she didn’t show up to a family gathering on Christmas, the Newark Advocate reported.

Family asked police to check on her, and the officers who discovered her say there was serious trauma to her legs, the Columbus Dispatch reported. An officer used a stun gun to scare away a large potbelly pig that came up to them, police said.

The pigs attacked Westergaard, biting her legs and causing her to bleed — which was made worse by blood thinners Westergaard had been taking, the Newark Advocate reported. Her cause of death was ultimately determined to be blood loss.

“This has been very difficult for them to come to terms with,” Eric Brehm, an attorney representing the owner, told the outlet, adding that the pigs have since been euthanized at the request of Westergaard’s family.

“This was their friend and neighbor who passed away, and this is just a very sad situation for all parties involved,” he said.

Pataskala is a roughly 20-mile drive east from Columbus.

This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Owner of escaped pigs that mauled woman to death must pay $200, OH officials say."