An Alicante Province man was mauled to death in what was a vicious attack by his neighbour’s five dogs (pictured in a shelter), who have now been put to sleep on the orders of a court. The 66-year-old was discovered by his son lying on the ground covered in wounds caused by bites from the dogs, all crosses between pit bulls and bull terriers.
The victim left his home in Beniarbeig in the Marina Alta area on Saturday to tend to his vegetables nearby. When his son realised he had been gone a long time, he went to look for him and found him lying on the ground in a “horrific scene”, according to the Guardia Civil.
There are no dangerous wild animals in the area, and suspicion soon fell on a neighbour whose dogs have caused problems in the past. “The dogs didn’t have any trace of blood on them, but police realised that one of them was soaking wet, as if it had just been washed,” the Guardia Civil said. “The owner alleged he had fallen in the pool.”
DNA samples were taken from the dogs which confirmed they killed the man and the owner is now set to face charges of involuntary manslaughter. The dogs were taken to a shelter at Els Poblets where they bit two workers and destroyed the cage they were kept in.
