Society

Elderly man in Hyogo Prefecture dies after being attacked by dog

May 28 (Japan Times) - An elderly man in Hyogo Prefecture has died after being bitten by a dog that he was watching for an acquaintance, police said Monday.

Tsutomu Fukumoto, 82, was found dead, with wounds on his back, together with the adult Tosa breed dog inside a kennel near his home in the city of Minamiawaji. Emergency services had received a call from his 55-year-old son at around 8:40 p.m. on Sunday.

According to the police, Fukumoto was taking care of his grandchild's three Tosa dogs as well as the one for the acquaintance, which is believed to have attacked him while he was trying to care for it.

The four dogs were kept separately in iron cages, each measuring 2.6 meters long by 1.3 meters wide, with a height of 1.4 meters. The kennel contains seven such cages.

Fukumoto was found collapsed in the cage by his 75-year-old wife, who went to check why he had not returned after leaving their house, about 200 meters away, at around 5 p.m. All the other dogs were in their respective cages.

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