WAUKEGAN, Ill. -- Police are still looking into what exactly happened in a Waukegan apartment early Sunday morning when a dachshund chewed off the genitals of a 4-month-old boy.

Fire and police personnel arrived at 1:30 a.m. to the home on the city’s far southwest side and encountered the infant — who was bleeding profusely — and took him from the scene in a helicopter to a hospital.

The father of the boy told police he was visiting his girlfriend with his son when the infant fell asleep on a couch. The girlfriend had placed blankets around the child and the two went into another room to sleep.

Police said the girlfriend’s dachshund may have smelled urine in the child’s diaper and began to chew away at the diaper.

The dog continued to destroy the diaper until he mutilated and ingested the child’s genitals. The girlfriend awoke to the child screaming and immediately called 911. The boy was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge where he was listed in stable condition.

An effort was made to recover the boy’s genitalia by performing surgery, but police said the dog vomited and a veterinarian determined the tissue was substantially destroyed and reattachment would not be possible.

The animal is now held in Waukegan Animal Control custody.

Cmdr. Wayne Walles said the Waukegan Police Criminal Investigations Division and the Lake County States Attorney’s Office are still investigating the incident.

A notification to the Department of Child and Family Services has been made.

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