Pet Dogs Save Owner From Sexual Assault, Attack Man During Walk

Two pet dogs are hailed heroes after they saved their owner from an attempted sexual assault. The incident took place in Melbourne, Australia, on the night of June 29.

Speaking to local media on Wednesday, the unnamed woman, said she was walking her dogs, one-year-old shih tzu and a two-year-old terrier cross, when a man approached her from behind.

Recalling the incident, the woman said, "I'd stopped to do something and wait for my dog to come back from chasing a rabbit and I got pushed from behind into the ground. It really just came out of nowhere — I didn't hear anyone behind me or around me."

The woman then started screaming when the man tried to pull her pants down.

"I started screaming pretty much straight away, like at the top of my lungs," she said.

The dogs then attacked the man, fending him off.

"They viciously attacked him — like growling, biting — and I think with my screaming and the struggling it made him stop. It's amazing and I keep thinking about would have happened if they had run off or not … done anything. I think that they saved me. You wouldn't know, but they are extremely protective and will probably bite your ankles,” she added.

The woman rushed back home with her pets and immediately alerted the police, who reached the crime scene and forensically examined the area.

Describing the attack as “disgusting,” the woman said she was shaken by the incident and stayed away from her home for a few days.

"It's quite scary even the fact maybe I was being watched before it happened. I live alone at the moment, so I didn't really want to be by myself around here. It's still quite upsetting,” she said.

Meanwhile, terming the dogs as “little heroes,” Detective Senior Constable Jenna Sladek said the animals played a key role in scaring off the man.