News out of Mississippi© USA TODAY

An animal shelter employee was mauled to death by two dogs rescued from a dog-fighting ring in Mississippi, according to multiple reports, citing local police and officials.

Clifford Phillips Jr., 57, died July 18 as he attempted to put a dog in a pen, which already had another dog in it at the Second Chance Animal Alliance in Water Valley, about 85 miles south of Memphis.

“A dog was already in a pen, and he was trying to put another dog in there, and the other dog tried to run out, and he tried to hold him off with his foot and that dog grabbed his leg, pulled him down,” Woods told the media outlet. “And then the other dog jumped in with him.”

Second Chance Animal Alliance ‘devastated by this loss’

While it is unclear what provoked the dogs into attacking Phillips, the shelter, mourned the employee’s death and said it was “devastated by this loss.” Phillips had worked at the shelter for two years, according to WREG.

The shelter said it takes the “safety and security of our volunteers and employees seriously” and has been cooperating with local officials over the incident.

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