Townsville woman recounts horrific moment her dog tore off her arm

A Queensland woman has recounted the harrowing moment she thought she would die alone after her arm was torn off by her own dog. Now she has a chilling warning for families. WATCH THE INCREDIBLE INTERVIEW

A Townsville woman has recounted the harrowing moment she thought she would die alone after her arm was torn off by her own dog in a shocking attack.

AnnmarieWalters, 34, was at her home on Lonerganne St, Garbutt, when she claims her neighbour suddenly kicked her door and sent her loyal dog, Buddy, into a “frenzy” on October 11.

“My front door was still broken, so I knew I had to hold him back so he couldn’t bust through to the neighbour,” she recalled.

“I grabbed him, and he bit me on my left arm. I shouted at him, and he let go – but something outside, maybe all the yelling, must’ve triggered him again because he locked onto my right arm, and I knew it was bad.”

As Buddy’s jaws clenched tighter, Annmarie knew she had to stay calm.

“I thought, ‘At least I can talk him out of it’. So I slowly turned him around by the head and backed myself out of the house, shut the screen door as much as I could, and held it shut with my foot,” she said.

For a moment, it seemed like she might be able to de-escalate the situation, but everything took a turn for the worse when another neighbour, trying to help, threw a knife over the fence.

“I felt him start to release me, and then – boom – the knife hit the house. It landed near us, and Buddy snapped,” she recounted.

Garbutt resident Annmarie Walters lost her arm in a dog attack. Picture: Evan Morgan

Already on edge from a break-in at their home just weeks earlier, Buddy’s reaction was instant and terrifying.

“He went full-blown psychotic. I’ve never seen a dog like it,” she said.

“He pulled three times backwards, and the arm came off. I was quite relieved when it came off … the pain was excruciating.”

With all of her neighbours retreating to the safety of their homes, Annmarie found herself alone, sitting in her front yard, bleeding profusely.

Annmarie Walters and her dog Buddy. Picture: Supplied

“I lost so much blood — like two litres — just gushing out of me. I kicked off my shoes, dragged my phone toward me with my foot, and managed to call triple-0,” she recalled.

As she sat there, waiting for help, a terrifying thought crossed her mind.

“I thought, ‘Oh God, I’m going to die here alone.’”

By the time paramedics arrived, Buddy was still in the house. Police entered shortly after and were forced to shoot him dead.

“The sad thing was that he ran to my room, the safest part in the house, and I couldn’t be there to save him,” Annmarie said.

Police hose blood off the driveway of Annmarie’s Garbutt residence after she had her arm severed by her dog.

She said losing her dog that day had been on par with the trauma of losing her arm from below the elbow.

“They recovered my arm, but it was too badly damaged, and they couldn’t reattach it, so they had to close up the wound,” she said.

“I was told that I died twice while I was under … I needed four bags of blood.”

Now back home with her other dog, Tilly, Annmarie is struggling to adapt to life without her arm and without Buddy.

Garbutt resident Annmarie Walters, with her other dog Tilly at home. Picture: Evan Morgan

Despite everything, she doesn’t hold her dog responsible, believing that his behaviour stemmed from human error and bad breeding.

“He guarded his property, and it cost him his life … He’s an animal. Animals snap. Sometimes they get angry; he got angry at a stranger and accidentally got me,” she said.

She purchased the dog — who was a bull arab, ridgeback, and dingo mix — from a backyard breeder, where she thinks the issues likely began.

“I’m not a bad dog owner. My dogs are well-fed, vaccinated, and desexed,” she said.

Garbutt resident Annmarie Walters lost her arm in a dog attack. Picture: Evan Morgan

She had made the conscious decision not to let Buddy have puppies because she suspected his breeding wasn’t right.

“There should be stricter laws on owners … If I hadn’t been able to buy him from a backyard breeder, this might never have happened,” she said.

“I hope we can all learn from it and save other families from going through what I’ve gone through because next time, it could cost somebody’s life.” 

“I’ll tell you right now, there wasn’t a single sign that morning, that my dog was going to do that, he was sitting there itching himself like a normal, happy dog and boom.”

Originally published as Townsville woman recounts horrific moment her dog tore off her arm