KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Twenty-eight dogs were rescued from a Bangkok house on July 27 where they had been locked up without food for days after their owner died from comorbidities.

Police reported that the dogs survived by eating the left leg of their owner, Attapol Charoenpithak, 62, whose body was discovered in his bedroom on the second floor of the house in the Khlong Sam Wa district, according to The Nation Thailand/Asia News Network as reported by The Star yesterday.

Attapol’s neighbor, Sompong Phasuksri, 53, alerted police after noticing Attapol’s car parked outside the house for about a week. Sompong told police that Attapol usually drove to a local market daily, and after getting no response from ringing the doorbell despite the lights being on, he called for help.

Officials from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, along with police, entered the house and found it filled with garbage and dog faeces.

Attapol, known to have diabetes and hypertension, had his body sent to the Police General Hospital for an autopsy.

Police then contacted The Voice Foundation, led by fashion model Chonlada Mekratree, to rescue the dogs.

Attapol had reportedly agreed to hand over all the dogs to the foundation after his death.

In 2017, Attapol was seen driving his truck with many dogs in cages in the scorching heat, prompting the foundation to monitor him for the dogs’ safety.

In 2021, a veterinarian informed the foundation that the dogs were gradually dying each week. Attapol had 46 dogs at that time, and the foundation took 20 to be sterilised.

Though Attapol filed a complaint of trespassing, he eventually agreed to hand over all the dogs to the foundation after his death.

The foundation is now looking for adopters for the rescued dogs. Interested individuals can contact The Voice Foundation.