The bystander effect has a shaky background, given that the Kitty Genovese murder (which is the most popular example) had some heavily distorted facts. That being said, the effect isn't total garbage and you do see instances of it from time to time. I do believe that most people who say they'd react in a certain situation don't actually do it when the situation presents itself. Some do, but certainly not all.
I have a 50-60 lbs lab who had a fairly bad preoccupation with tennis balls. Not sure what brought it about, but when we got him he was around 8, and just holding a tennis ball near him was literally risking the bones in your hand. One day while playing fetch with one of those plastic chuck-it things, he lunged at it and ripped it out of my hands. I figured I'd just go pull it out of his mouth. I didn't really have the tools and experience that i have today to help me retrieve something from his jaws. What transpired next was about 3-5 minutes of absolute useless pulling and energy exertion. I didn't get hurt or anything, but it was very clear that I wasn't getting the chuck-it back until he was done with it. The harder I tried to force it out of him, the stronger his hold became.
Prey instinct is a hell of a thing. You aren't going to pull *actual* prey from a single dog of that size. 2 or 3 of them? Seems nearly impossible to me. 11? We like to think we could have helped that kid, but I think he had a 0% survival chance as soon as he went over the edge.
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