Police in Indonesia shot dead three of seven dogs suspected to have eaten their owner who had left the animals for two weeks without food, local media reported today.

A relative found dismembered parts of Andre Lumboga’s body in the kitchen of his house on Batam island yesterday when she visited after calls went unanswered, the Riau Pos daily reported.

“The dogs were never let out,” the daily quoted a neighbour identified as Dio as saying.

“Because they were confined to the house, they couldn’t find food,” he said.

Lumboga, 60, left the house in mid-August to spend a holiday in Manado on Sulawesi island and returned on Aug 30, when he was believed to have been attacked, the paper said.

His luggage was still stacked in front of the house, the report added.

Police killed three of the dogs when the animals tried to attack officers they as they arrived at the house yesterday.

Neighbours said they had no suspicion despite the presence of an unpleasant smell emanating from the house.

“I thought it was the smell of a dead rat,” Sulastri was quoted as saying.

- dpa