Tosa dog bites boy, postman in Osaka; owner arrested

Tuesday 28th October, 10:07 AM JST

OSAKA —

A 1.5-meter-long, 3-year-old Tosa dog bit two people, seriously injuring them, in Matsubara City, Osaka, on Monday afternoon. The 23-year-old owner of the dog was arrested and charged with negligence, police said Tuesday.

Police said the dog’s owner, Akitoyo Sera, who owns five Tosa dogs, forgot to lock the cage. One dog escaped and bit a 9-year-old boy and a 23-year-old postman around 4:55 p.m. on the street. The two victims were taken to hospital. The boy suffered heavy injuries to his neck, chin and stomach, while the postman suffered minor injuries on his arms.

Sera captured his dog about 15 minutes later, police said.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 41 Total Comments Show All

cleo at 04:32 PM JST - 28th October

Agree with GW about the pet shops, inbreeding, false paperwork. Puppy farms are a disgrace and should be shut down wherever they are found.　If you want a dog go to a reputable breeder or choose a rescue from your local pound. Earlier this month it was reported that 17 full-grown chihuahuas had been abandoned on the streets of Hachijoji - now that the chihuahua boom has passed (and everyone wants a toy poodle with a teddy-bear cut), these dogs were nothing but surplus stock or, more like, no-longer-needed breeding machines.

But for all that pet shops are vile heartless places dealing in canine flesh and misery, I've yet to see or hear of Tosa pups being offered for sale in a pet shop.
badge123 at 04:56 PM JST - 28th October

Dogs chasing postmen, who would of figured.
Sarge at 05:01 PM JST - 28th October

"Sera captured his dog about 15 minutes later"

Sera needs to be captured in a prison for about 15 months.
nutsagain at 05:26 PM JST - 28th October

It's true, gangster groups have a big stake in this dog industry as breeders and sellers. Pups and kittens have best-bought-by dates, and once their shelf life is over and the kawaii factor no longer marketable, to the executioner they do go. Make no mistake.

There's a place near me that snack broads like to gawk at with loaded salarymen in arm and exclaim; 'Awww...hoshii ne!" "Kate kure?" Heitaro salaryman plonks down the 20,000 and the broad takes home the pup. Only to return it the next morning for a cut of the profit. A neat trick.
cleo at 05:32 PM JST - 28th October

Pups for 20,000 yen??
timorborder at 05:46 PM JST - 28th October

Don't about pups going to the executioners, I always imagined them being sold off live for animal testing, or worse being given over to vet students. When I was young, our pups all used to go to the Guidedog Associations in Australia or overseas.
nutsagain at 05:55 PM JST - 28th October

Poodles? To the Guide Dog Associations! Don't buy it... unless they were for R&R purposes for the Labradors. Er, hem...
timorborder at 06:03 PM JST - 28th October

Poodles - No, my family (or my grandfather at least) started breeding labradors and golden retrievers after WW2 because of the serious shortage of guide-dogs for wounded service people (he retired as a Lt. General in the Australian Army). The facility he established (like a huge farm with rivers, lakes, etc.) also offered a place to employ wounded service people. When I was young, the place employed 50 trainers and we used to turn off about 300 pups a year. Some went to the guidedog associations in Australia, while others were exported to other countries (US, Japan, UK). The business is still running, but these days it is about 90% labradors and most of the breeding is done through frozen DNA and artifical insemination.
Heda_Madness at 06:06 PM JST - 28th October

I'd disagree that there's no such thing as nasty dogs but would agree that there are many nasty owners.

However it's interesting to note that the ownership of Tosa's is banned or regulated in a number of companies. Whether this is because the dogs are nasty, or because the people who own them usually are is debatable.
maninjapan79 at 06:11 PM JST - 28th October

Schoolboy, yep a good point. Dont know if anyone saw the tv program the other night about people judr dropping them off at the shelter. "We jsut bought this jack russel puppy, but we cant keep him cause our cats pregnant" "We know itll probably be put down but thats ok" WTF is wrong with these people!!!!
Deepinside at 06:40 PM JST - 28th October

the dog order a box of bone in internet,and the postman eated it on the way ,,that was the porpuse....
cleo at 07:30 PM JST - 28th October

maninjapan, don't know if it was the same programme, but I saw one I think it was last week, aired in the morning. It showed the van going round picking up unwanted cats & dogs, and taking them to the Dobutsu Aigo Centre where they were moved day by day from cage 1 to cage 7. After a week, they were herded into a gas chamber.

The stories of some of the people bringing in dogs was atrocious; "She keeps having puppies" (Then get her spayed, moron!); She's old and sick, I can't be bothered any more (Hope your kids say the same about you when you're old...wonderful ethics you're teaching them...)

They didn't know or care what happened to the animals. I found myself swearing at the telly.　
timorborder at 12:44 AM JST - 29th October

Sorry, you seem to have misunderstood my earlier post. My home was involved in the breeding of dogs (mainly labradors and golden retrievers). The puppies that were born were given early socialization training by us and then sent off to different guide dog associations for further socialization and training. We were not in the business of doing full training ourselves. At the same time, however, my first 3 dogs when I was small were all guide dog veterans who had been retired due to age or on medical grounds. What happened to the dogs we bred after they were sent off was not our concern. Their training and welfare was handled by various GDA. I do know, however, that our bloodlines had very low instances of medical issues.
BurakuminDes at 12:11 PM JST - 29th October

Interesting that the dog was arrested too. I hope he gets a lawyer appointed though, they are serious charges he is facing...
elbudamexicano at 01:38 PM JST - 29th October

Terrible news! I hope the owner of this do in Osaka is put in jail for a long, long time and while they are at it, make sure idiots like this one are also spayed! You know, just to make sure idiots do not reproduce anymore idiots in Osaka or anywhere for that matter.