A 4-year-old boy’s leg has been amputated after he was attacked by his police offer father’s K-9 partner. A neighbor helped to save the child.

The child’s father is a K-9 handler for the Rialto Police Department in California. The officer’s dog, Jango, a Belgian Malinois, reportedly attacked the boy in the back yard of the family home while the officer, Detective Michael Mastaler, went upstairs to change. 4-year-old Hunter went outside looking for his mother and the dog attacked.

A neighbor heard the boy screaming and yelled for two boys who were playing football nearby, Logan Houlemard, 13, and Anthony Montalvo, 14, to call 911. Logn’s father, Jeff Houlemard, raced to Mastaler’s house after Logan ran into their house yelling for help. The neighbor woman told him that a boy was being attacked by a dog on the other side of the fence. Houlemard said that the fence was too high to jump, so he ran into the gate with his shoulder and knocked it down.

When Houlemard got into the yard he found Jango with the boy’s leg in his mouth. He kicked the dog several times but he would not let go, so Houlemard “jumped on top of him,” pried open his mouth and started choking him. Anthony Montalvo, his son’s friend, dragged the boy out of the way. Masteler then came out and caged Jango. Houlemard’s wife attempted to calm the boy, who was focused on his lip, which was also hurt.

The 4-year-old boy was airlifted to a hospital where he underwent surgery to amputate eight inches of his leg. He will remain hospitalized for another week, according to Capt. Randy DeAnda. DeAnda said that this is a “serious and very tragic accident.” He said that police K-9s are highly trained and usually under direct supervision. In this case there was obviously a time when the dog was not supervised.

Jango will be quarantined for 10 days while an investigation determines whether he should be euthanized. DeAnda says that it is unlikely that the dog will return to duty as a police K-9 and that it is likely he will be put down. He did say that this is the first problem that the department has had with Jango. “He’s one of our more mild-mannered K-9s,” he said.

The national executive director of the U.S. Police Canine Association, Russ Hess, said that such attacks on a handler’s family members are rare. He said that it happens far less with a trained dog than with a pet. Usually the dogs become part of the family, although he did say that usually the K-9’s interactions with family member are supervised by the handler.

Rialto police are conducting an investigation, although no criminal charges are being considered. DeAnda said that if the officer is found to have violated policy he will be held responsible for his actions.