Dogs save Melbourne woman from rape

Two protective canine balls of fluff saved their owner when they attacked her would-be rapist.

Kate- not her real name with her dogs, Louie and RuPaul, who helped her escape her attacker at Melbourne’s Williamstown Cemetery. Picture: Sarah Matray

Two small fluffy dogs who saved their owner from an attempted rape have been heralded as heroes by Victoria Police.

Kate, not her real name, was walking pets Louie and RuPaul in Williamstown Cemetery in Melbourne’s west at 8.30pm on Saturday night June 29 when a man came from behind and pushed her into the muddy ground.

The man was attempting to pull down her pants down when Louie and RuPaul began attacking him, thwarting the alleged assault.

The assailant ran from the two small dogs towards K.C. White Reserve on Park Crescent.

Kate rushed home and contacted police. She credits the dogs with saving her.

“They saved me. They viciously attacked him (the man), growling, biting,” she said.

“With my screaming and the struggling, it made him stop.”

Detective Senior Constable Jenna Sladek said Louie, a two-year-old terrier cross, and RuPaul, a one-year-old Shih Tzu, were little heroes.

“We’re classing them as little heroes,” she said.

“They (the dogs) did a really good job of helping her.”

Kate said she has been left shocked and distressed by the attack.

“It’s still quite upsetting,” she said.

“I didn’t hear anyone around me. Maybe I was being watched before it happened.”

The assailant is still at large and was described as having a large build and was wearing a black puffer jacket and white beanie at the time of the attack.

Williamstown Cemetery is a popular spot for dogwalkers.