A North Carolina mother of three was mauled to death outside her home after a stray dog she had been caring for suddenly turned on her while she tried to protect her own pet.
Deputies found 38-year-old Barbara Hunter Brewington dead in the yard of her home on North Peavine Road near Bonnetsville on Sunday, Nov. 23. According to Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton, the dog that killed her was a mixed-breed stray she had started looking after back in May.
Thornton said the attack happened after Brewington’s small dog somehow got outside. When she stepped in to break up a scuffle between the two animals, the stray became violently aggressive.
“She had her own pet dog,” Thornton explained. “And for some reason or another, the little dog got out. She was trying to separate the stray dog from her pet, and apparently the dog got overly aggressive and attacked her.”
Brewington was home alone during the incident but managed to save her small dog by getting it back inside the house before the stray overpowered her.
The stray dog was euthanized at the scene, Thornton confirmed.
Brewington, remembered as a devoted mother and a warm, joyful presence, worked as a dental assistant at Village Family Dental.
Her obituary described her as a loving parent, and her sister echoed that sentiment in a heartfelt message on a GoFundMe page. “If you knew Barbara, you knew what real love was,” she wrote. “She was a ray of sunshine on a rainy day. She was the laughter in any room. You won’t meet a person who would tell you any different. Being a mother was her calling. She loved her children more than life itself.”