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An 82-year-old man has died after being bitten by a Tosa dog (mastiff) in Minami-Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture, police said Monday.
Police said they received a call at around 8:40 p.m. Sunday from a 55-year-old man, saying that his father had been bitten by a Tosa dog, Sankei Shimbun reported.
Police found the man, Tsutomu Fukumoto, inside the dog’s cage with the animal near him. He was declared dead at the scene due to loss of blood from several bite marks to his back.
Fukumoto had been asked by an acquaintance to look after his dogs in their cages at his home nearby. He was also looking after his grandson's three Tosa dogs. Fukumoto had gone to feed the dogs at around 5 p.m. and when he didn’t return, his 75-year-old wife went looking for him. She found his body and called her son who notified police.
The cage in which Fukumoto's body was found was 2.6 meters long, 1.3 meters wide and 1.4 meters tall. The four dogs were in separate cages at a kennel about 200 meters from Fukumoto's home.
© Japan Today
22 Comments
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Arturo Jamilla
Congrats to the jerk friend and grandson. Learn to take care of your own animals, idiots.
dbsaiya
It's not the dogs fault, we should be clear on this. Tosa ken are usually bred for only one thing and that is to fight. The TV footage showed miserable living conditions for the dogs and they were in all probability treated the same way, miserably. You don't get a good fighter by showing love and caring. Also, yakuza are usually associated with the dogs. It's the humans' fault, and I'm going out on a limb now, but the dude who got mauled was probably associated with the yakuza in one way or another.
Yubaru
Right, blame the dog for more than likely the human screwing up some how. May we should put the owners down for allowing someone who was obvious ill prepared to handle this breed of dog.
You dont shoot the messenger just because you dont like what he has to say!
oldman_13
One of the most deadly breeds in the world. Cannot believe they let a frail old man look after it
Thomas Robert Mountcastle
tmarie:
Correct. I know Tosa ken well. As with any animal, or human for that matter, how they are treated is how they behave. Even without all the facts, this appears to be human mistreatment.
Patricia Yarrow
Mastiffs are huge dogs. They have been part of society in Europe at least for centuries. Normally, they are gentle creatures and part of the family. However, they are not the little toy dogs most people seem to have here in Japan as child replacements. It appears they were not respected by their owners by trapping them in small cages. So sorry for the aged victim.
Jonathan Prin
The poor man open the door cage. He should not have knowing about the dogs they were for sure.
Dogs shoukd have been strapped before.
Rip but he looked for death by himself.
tmarie
Tosa are fighting dogs and anyone who owns four, let alone anyone who cages them, is clearly not a dog lover. I’m guessing they’ve been abused and are rather scared of strangers. This old guy should never have been left alone to feed them. And they should not be caged as they were. Think about. Huge dogs in that size cage with a guy coming only to feed them? Abuse. Poor man lost his life due to the owner. And the dog will be put down. So that dog lost his life as well due to the owner. The other three should be taken from him but I’m not convinced they won’t be put down or left with the owner.
nandakandamanda
I can see this in the west as: 'Man mauled to death by dog', etc.
Luddite
He wasn't 'bitten', that implies one bite - he was mauled by the dog.
The Avenger
If you choose to have a vicious breed of dog, you should be held accountable for their actions.
stormcrow
A cage 1.3m wide, 2.6m long and 1.4m tall with a really big dog might have been too stressful for it. If a person enters a small cage with a very large dog in it who the dog isn't familiar with, then it's probable that the such a large dog was confused and stressed out.
Wrong place at the wrong time.
Laguna
Sad. I've got a whippet who I've let out off-lead to relieve his anxiety after a prolonged trip - but whippets are a gentle breed, and I do it around 10:00 (sit in the genkan and wait for him to come back). But a tosa?! Know your breed.
jcapan
Disillusioned, sadly MrHeisei is also right
https://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/09/japanese-dogfighting-494843.html
Disillusioned
Actually, they are hunting dogs. They are used for hunting wild boar.
It would seem this old fella was not fully aware of the dangers of big dogs. It also seems he was attacked, not just bitten, as the headline states.
MrHeisei
Tosa dogs are fighting dogs. There is obviously a lot more to this story than this article mentions.
Brian Wheway
He was found in the dogs cage!!! was that because the dogs dragged him in there or did he go in to it to hide? either way its a horrid way to die. in the UK these dogs would be put down, what is going to happen to these dogs?
Atari
Tosas are usually have very good temperament towards humans and only attack if they feel uneasy or intruders. Perhaps they neighbour didnt know the dogs well enough and he got mad at them. Who knows?
Travelmaster
Tosa dog is a large dog.
I can not believe that i can easily take care of others' dogs.
It was too dangerous.
darknuts
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. What were the dogs doing in cages anyway? Sounds like someone wasn't taking very good care of them.