MELBOURNE (AFP) - Police checking on a home in suburban Australia found the body of a man whose leg had been gnawed to the bone by a dog, a report said on Thursday.

The man, reported to be 49 but not named, was found by the police and council staff making a welfare check south-west of Melbourne on Tuesday, Victoria state police and the Greater Geelong City Council said in a statement.

Neighbours had reported persistent barking from a dog inside the house in a suburb of Geelong, the Geelong Advertiser said.

"Police looked through the door at the rear of the house and saw a male on the bed," Sergeant David Magher told the newspaper.

"His right leg was missing and the other gnawed to the bone. The dog inside the unit appeared to be extremely aggressive so council rangers were called in to restrain the dog."

It was not known what breed of dog was involved or whether the man was already dead when the dog starting eating his leg.

Police said his death was not being treated as suspicious, with a report to be prepared for the coroner.

The newspaper said the man was last seen four weeks earlier and lived by himself.

Geelong council's manager for health and local laws Steve Sodomaco said the dog, thought to be owned by the man, was being held by animal welfare services with its fate yet to be determined.

He added that council staff who went to the house were "understandably shaken by the incident and we are looking after their welfare".