Man killed by dog 'loved animals'

Anthony Riggs, who was killed last week by his newly adopted dog, was a good man who loved animals and was loved by them, according to his ex-wife.

“He never hesitated to be with dogs,” said Adrienne Riggs, Anthony's ex-wife. “Sometimes I thought he related to dogs better than to people.”

Adrienne said Riggs left behind two children, their son Thomas Riggs, 20, and Matthew Riggs, 32.

During her marriage with Anthony, they owned many dogs, including a Rottweiler, a Doberman, a wolf-mix and more, Adrienne said.

Anthony Riggs, 57, adopted a 5-year-old male Rottweiler on Thursday from Jackson-Madison County Rabies Control, which is the county-run animal control facility, according to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. The dog attacked and killed him later that same day, the Sheriff's Office said.

Anthony had brought the Rottweiler to show Thomas around 10:30 Thursday morning, Adrienne said. Father and son had made plans for the holidays, hugged and said they loved each other.

At about 3:30 that afternoon, Madison County sheriff’s deputies responded to the call about the dog attack in the 2200 block of Highway 70 East. Deputies found Riggs on the floor and Emergency Medical Services pronounced him dead at the scene, according to Tom Mapes, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

Mapes said Kathy Riggs, Riggs’ wife, called her husband from work at around 1 p.m., but did not get an answer. When she came home with a coworker, she found her husband dead, Mapes said.

Kathy Riggs could not be reached for comment.

Adrienne Riggs said both Kathy and her coworker were bitten by the dog, which ran out of the house and was shot on sight by sheriff’s deputies.

Mapes said the coworker was Teresa Sanchez, who posted on The Jackson Sun’s Facebook page that she was present and was bitten by the dog.

“He wasn’t growling or showing teeth he just bit us like he did it all the time or something,” Sanchez wrote on Facebook. “It was unreal what that dog did and he should NEVER have been adopted out period.”

Sanchez could not be reached for further comment.

Jackson-Madison County Rabies Control had a photo of the Rottweiler on its website prior to the dog's adoption, listing it as a 5-year-old male. The photo has since been removed.

Rabies Control’s website includes an adoption policy, but the policy contains no information about whether the facility informs potential owners if dogs have a history of aggressive behavior.

The Rabies Control office is closed on Sundays, and no one there could be reached for comment,

Lynn Caldwell of the Jackson-Madison County Humane Society said her organization has a 14-day quarantine, during which animals are observed for aggression. The Humane Society does not adopt out aggressive dogs, Caldwell said.

Caldwell said warning signs of an aggressive dog include body language, such as large eyes, hard staring, a tense muzzle, lips lifted to display teeth, stiff legs, forward ears, upheld tail, a bristled and stiff wag and weight held over its front legs.

Adrienne Riggs said her son has been having nightmares and is not eating or sleeping since he lost “the most important man in his life.”

She said she remembers her ex-husband as a friend and a wonderful father who had a great sense of humor.

“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,” Adrienne Riggs said.

Reach Katherine at (731) 425-9748. Follow her on Twitter @kathsburgess.