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.

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