Newborn baby eaten by stray dogs after mother 'left infant behind tree'

A newborn baby left alone in a courtyard was eaten by stray dogs.

Police have arrested Elda Esperanza Espino Garcia, who allegedly gave birth to the child behind a tree then left it alone for 30 minutes while she returned to the house to get a blanket.

The 23-year-old from the village of La Zonita in Copán Ruinas, Honduras, who was desperate to keep her pregnancy secret from her father, returned to find "vicious" local dogs attacking the child.

Both of the baby's arms and one of its legs had been eaten.

Neighbour Carlos Moncada, 37, called the police after she begged him for help.

"When she knocked on the door she was in a terrible state, crying hysterically and with blood on her legs," he said.

"At first I thought she had been attacked, but when she began to tell me what had happened I was completely shocked.

"She took me to where the dogs were feeding on the newborn baby and I almost vomited.

"I felt sorry for her because I know her father and he is a hard man who would never accept her being pregnant or having a baby outside of marriage, but I had to do what was right and call the police."

When officers arrived they found the remains of the newborn being guarded by the three dogs.

A police spokesman said: "They didn’t want us to go near and were quite vicious so we shot them with a tranquilliser gun.

"They had eaten both the baby’s arms and one of its legs."

The woman was charged with infanticide and abandoning the child.