Texas sheriff: 2 malnourished children found in dog cage

DECATUR, Texas (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies discovered four malnourished children, including two locked inside a dog cage, when they responded to a domestic disturbance at a Northeast Texas home.

Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin says deputies found the children aged 5 and younger Tuesday morning at the home near Rhome, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Fort Worth.

Akin says two of the children were inside, but that the deputies found two more in an outbuilding, crammed into the 3-by-3 feet (90-by-90 centimeters) cage.

Akin didn’t describe the state of the children except that they were malnourished. They were taken to a hospital for evaluation.

He says the children’s parents were home and that they had been fighting. The man had cuts to his face. Akin says they will be charged with child endangerment.