A 10-year-old boy was adopted by a pack of wild dogs and lived with them in a cave for two years after escaping from a care home in Chile.

The boy is said by police to have survived by sucking milk from the breast of one of the dogs and scavenging food from dustbins in the port town of Talcahuano.

The child, named Dog Boy by the Chilean press, is thought to have been thrown out of his home by abusive parents at the age of five.

The dog boy was severely malnourished and unable to speak properly when he was found, but in spite of his condition, was reluctant to leave his adoptive family.

Police were alerted to his plight by the authorities and turned up on Saturday to take him away from the cave he shared with 15 dogs. He fought them off and jumped into the chilly Pacific Ocean.

A spokesman for the carabinero police force said: "They were like his family. A female dog nurtured him. As soon as he saw us he tried to run and a police officer had to dive into the water to save him."

Delia Delgatto, head of Chile's National Childcare Service, said: "He lived in a cave with dogs and roamed the streets for food with them. He would eat out of garbage cans and find leftovers.

"He wasn't reared by the dogs as such, he lived with them in a cave. He's showing signs of depression, is aggressive and is not speaking much although he does know how to speak.

"He was dressed almost in rags, was dirty and had filthy hair." She said she could not tell if reports that the boy had been suckled by one of the dogs were correct.

"We can't tell whether he was or wasn't," she said. Chilean authorities have dismissed the reports.

The child, referred to by the authorities as Alex, was suffering from hypothermia and a face injury as a result of his attempt to flee from the police.

He spent a day in hospital and is now in the care of a state-run children's welfare society. Pictures of him holding drawings of dogs show he has broken front teeth.

Authorities say he is extremely violent. Because of his "acute" mental troubles, Alex is due to be transferred to a child psychiatric unit in the Chilean capital Santiago within the next few days.

Used courtesy of the London Evening Standard