A hero dog kept a two-year old-boy alive for two days after the child was cruelly abandoned by his mother.

The infant was left all alone in the unheated porch of his home in the Altai region of Russia.

Local officials said the 'hero' dog was a 'saviour' to the child, keeping him as warm as possible for two days before neighbours found him.

A hero dog, pictured, kept a two-year old-boy alive for two days after the child was abandoned in sub-zero temperatures

The boy was left in the unheated the porch of his family's home in the Altai region of southern Siberia, Russia

The boy shivered in temperatures averaging minus 12C, dipping to a chilling minus 21C, and was wearing only light clothes.

The child was reported last night to have suffered acute hypothermia during his ordeal but was responding well to treatment in hospital.

The boy was forced to endure a 48 hour ordeal without food, with his mother returning four days after he was found

The boy shivered in temperatures were averaging minus 12C , with the mercury sometimes dropping as low as 21C

Police in the Loktevsky district of the Atlai region, north of Kazakhstan, are investigating the mother over claims she deliberately abandoned her child

'The mother faces a potential jail sentence and losing the right to raise her child,' The Siberian Times reports.

'She is being investigated in a criminal case, accused of deliberately abandoning her child.'

None of those involved in the horrific case have been named.