A malnourished toddler who was being breastfed by a neighbour’s dog has been rescued by police in Chile.
Police say a witness reported seeing the dog feeding the two-year-old boy on Thursday at a mechanic’s workshop in the desert port of Arica, some 1,240 miles north of the capital, Santiago.
Captain Diego Gajardo told The Associated Press that the child was released from a hospital Friday is under the care of child welfare authorities.
This is the dog understood to have breastfed the two-year-old boy
Gajardo says the mother attended the hospital drunk, but she has not been arrested because there was not physical harm to the child.
Marcela Labrana, director of the National Service for Minors told the 24Horas news channel: “Here in Chile, in broad daylight, a situation that is happening is reprehensible and inhumane.”
A family court hearing on 22 September will determine who will care for the child.
Local news media identified the dog's name as "Reina."