‘He Was Ripped Up’: Horror on a Broome Street as Three Pit Bulls Maul Man While Desperate Residents Say Their Calls for Help Went Unanswered
- A man in his 40s was savaged by three pit bulls on a quiet Broome street and later flown more than 2,000 kilometres to Perth with serious injuries
- A local couple used their car as a shield to drive the animals back before rushing the bleeding victim to hospital themselves
- Residents say the dogs had menaced the street hours earlier, but their calls to rangers went unanswered because rangers are not on duty between 6pm and 6am
- The dogs roamed free for hours after the mauling and were not caught until 7am, reigniting fears over after-hours safety in regional towns
It began with a voice in the dark, a man crying out for help.
Within minutes, a Broome couple relaxing outside their home found themselves at the centre of a nightmare: a man pinned down and torn apart by three pit bulls on an ordinary suburban street in Western Australia’s far north.
Had they not heard him, they believe he would be dead.
Now, more than a week after the attack, the residents of Streeter Avenue are asking a confronting question. Why, on a street where the same dogs had already been terrorising locals that night, was nobody answering the phone?
The mauling unfolded on October 21.
The victim, a man in his 40s, was set upon by the three dogs and suffered injuries so severe he was later airlifted to Perth for treatment.
Miranda Shovellor was sitting outside when she heard his calls. She and her partner, Stewart Turner, went to see what was happening and were confronted by a scene neither will forget.
“When I looked at him, he was ripped up,” Mr Turner said.
He knew instantly that wading in with his bare hands, or trying to drive the animals off with rocks, would likely end with him being attacked too.
So he turned to the only weapon available: his car.
Using the vehicle to push back the snarling dogs, Mr Turner managed to reach the injured man, get him inside and drive him straight to hospital.
A spokesperson for the WA Department of Health later confirmed the man had been discharged on Tuesday evening.
For Ms Shovellor, the outcome could so easily have been different. She said that without those cries carrying through the night, the couple would probably have stumbled across a body down the road the next morning.
What makes the attack all the more disturbing, residents say, is that it did not come out of nowhere.
Earlier that same evening, Ms Shovellor’s uncle, who also lives on Streeter Avenue, tried to park outside his home when the dogs began aggressively circling his car.
He attempted to contact both police and rangers. According to his niece, he got no help.
Ms Shovellor said she also rang the rangers. Her calls went unanswered.
And even after a man had been mauled, the danger did not end. The dogs continued to roam the street for hours, free to strike again, while families slept behind closed doors.
WA Police said officers responded to a call at around 3am and then reported the animals to the Shire of Broome.
A shire spokesperson said that police report was the only notification council had received about either the dogs or the attack. Rangers finally caught the animals at 7am.
Crucially, the shire confirmed that rangers do not work in Broome between 6pm and 6am. The spokesperson said residents can log reports through a 24-hour hotline, and emergency services can be contacted where necessary.
The owners have since agreed to have the dogs euthanased. The shire says its investigation is continuing.
Analysis: What This Means for Australia
The Broome mauling exposes a gap that stretches far beyond one street in the Kimberley. Across regional Australia, many councils run animal control services on business hours, while dangerous situations rarely keep to a timetable.
In this case, the timeline is stark. Residents say warning signs appeared well before the attack.
A man was then seriously hurt. Yet the dogs were not secured until the morning shift began.
That raises serious questions for public safety in towns where the nearest major trauma hospital may be a flight away. When a mauling victim in Broome needs specialist care, the consequences of delay are measured in thousands of kilometres and hours of critical time.
It also places an uncomfortable burden on police. When rangers are off duty, frontline officers become the default responders to roaming animals, stretching already thin regional policing resources.
Then there is the human cost. Streeter Avenue is home to families with young children.
Residents say they no longer feel comfortable walking their own street. That erosion of trust in local safety nets is not easily repaired.
The incident is also likely to add fuel to the ongoing national debate over dangerous dog laws and how breeds such as pit bulls are regulated, registered and controlled by their owners.
Local government observers say the core issue is not whether a hotline exists, but whether residents know about it and trust it to deliver an urgent response.
A phone line that logs a complaint is very different from a ranger arriving in minutes.
Community safety advocates warn that regional councils face genuine budget constraints, but argue that a single serious mauling can carry costs, medical, legal and emotional, that far outweigh the price of after-hours cover.
Law enforcement insiders note that police are trained to handle threats to human life but are not always equipped to safely capture multiple aggressive dogs, leaving officers in a difficult position when no ranger is available.
Animal welfare observers also point out that the ultimate fate of the dogs, euthanasia, is a tragedy that often traces back to owner responsibility, secure fencing and early intervention when warning signs first emerge.
For Ms Shovellor, the debate is far from abstract. She described witnessing the attack as “traumatising” and admits she is still shaken.
She wants residents to have better options for reporting dangerous animals outside business hours, so the next family on the next street is not left calling into silence.
Because on Streeter Avenue, the difference between a hospital discharge and a funeral came down to one couple, one car, and a cry for help that happened to be heard.