Police officers on Sunday rescued a toddler kept in a cage inside of an apartment in the northern Israel city of Haifa.
The officers arrived at the apartment to conduct a search as part of an ongoing drug case, and found substances including methamphetamines and hashish, in large quantities.
The officers, however, also found a lot more than they bargained for when they spotted a toddler inside a small, steel cage.
Two residents of the apartment were arrested for possession of the drugs, while the toddler’s 35-year-old mother – who was absent from the premises at the time of the seach – was apprehended hours later.
Social services in Haifa arrived at the scene and began treating the child as well as five of his siblings, who were also inside the apartment at the time. The police said will ask the Haifa District Court to remand the mother’s arrest.
Haifa police superintendent Yossi Attias said that “this is one of the worst cases I’ve seen. The child was left alone in a steel cage no bigger than half a meter without an ability to escape.”
“We see any harm done to a child as inexcusable, and will work diligently in this case.”