A pensioner was savagely mauled to death by his son's pet pit bull dogs that had been released from their cages in Thailand.

Bunsoem Muangiam, 67, was found unconscious in a pool of his own blood in front of his house in Nakhon Ratchasima province on October 23.

He was surrounded by four pit bulls, two of which had muzzles dripping with blood.

A rescue team rushed to the property and tried to revive the pensioner, but it was too late as he had lost too much blood from his injuries. Paramedics found that the dogs had torn major veins in his right arm and both of his thighs.

Bunsoem's son, Sanan Muangiam, 34, said had gone to the market to buy some food, leaving the elderly man alone at home with the volatile creatures, which were still caged at the time.

The victim is believed to have been breaking up a fight between the dogs before they turned on him instead.

Sanan said: 'My older brother takes care of seven pit bulls. One is male, three are female, and three are newborn puppies.

'I kept telling him that this breed is aggressive and dangerous, but he wouldn't listen. Now our father is dead.'

He added that the dogs were normally locked in their cages, and were only occasionally released. It was the first time they had attacked anyone.

The family said they will be selling the pit bulls after their dad's funeral. If no one agrees to take them, the canines will be sent away to relatives in Chaiyaphum province, Sanan said.

In September, a woman was also viciously attacked by her own pet pitbull in Nakhon Ratchasima while she was feeding a stray dog.