A bedridden pensioner was killed by his family's pet pit bulls when they climbed through an open window and mauled him.

Prathip Somboon, 78, was sleeping on the ground floor when the ravenous beasts pounced on him in Lampang, Thailand, yesterday morning at around 7 am local time, June 28.

Horrified daughter Kitty was woken by blood-curdling howls as the dogs tore the flesh from her frail father's face.

She ran downstairs and discovered her lifeless dad on his nursing home-style bed, with his face and ears savaged by the dogs, leaving his flesh exposed to the bone.

The two-year-old pooches - one named Big for its size and the other named Black for its fur colour - were seen standing over his body with blood dripping from their mouths as they devoured chunks of meat.

Police and animal control officers from the Hang Chat district arrived at the scene to control the rabid animals. The demon dogs were tranquilised with anaesthesia and thrown into a cage to be checked by veterinarians. They have not been detsroyed.

Prathip's horrified daughter Kitty said: 'It was around 6:15 am when I heard my father's screams. He stays there on the first floor because he couldn't get out of bed. When I came down to check what was happening, the dogs were all over him, tearing the flesh off his face. It was horrible.

'We usually let the dogs roam around at night, and keep them in their cage during daytime. They must have escaped through the wire screen and climbed up the open window of my dad's room.

'I could not bear to look at them anymore. I'm just waiting for an animal rescue organisation to take them away from me. I don't want to see them again.'

Meanwhile, Prathip's wife had been away at a funeral in Kanchanaburi province during the brutal attack. She said she rushed back home following news of her husband's death.

The bereaved family said that the pit bulls, which they had raised since they were puppies, had always been playful, but never aggressive prior to the attack.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Montri Duangwana from the local station said: 'The pet dogs might have been hungry and attacked the old man while they were looking for food.

'The family has contacted several animal welfare agencies, including the Watchdog Thailand Foundation, to donate the pit bulls. They said they didn't want to keep the dogs anymore.'

Thailand is notoriously unregulated over pets and there are no laws preventing people from keeping dangerous dogs.

In January, four bloodthirsty pit bulls attacked a woman visiting relatives in Phanom province. While last October, a man was mauled to death by his family's pit bulls in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

A woman had also been severely wounded by her own pet pit bull in the same province last September while she had been feeding a stray dog.

In yet another incident, a pack of the ferocious beasts escaped from their house and pounced on their neighbour in Samut Songkhram last November.