A heartbreaking story of child neglect from Ohio has captured the nation’s attention. Police in Franklin, Ohio were there to come to the rescue of a 7-year-old boy that was so desperate for food he attempted to sell his stuffed animal just to get enough money to eat.

“It broke my heart,” said Franklin Police Officer Steve Dunham when interviewed by WLWT. “He told me he was trying to sell his stuffed animal to get money for food because he hadn’t eaten in several days.”

The cop took the starving child to Subway for a meal and they hung out together at the police department. When police investigated the home, they found some absolutely horrific living conditions. The child and his four brothers (aged 11 to 17) lived in a home that was riddled with garbage, urine, liquor bottles and general squalor. The boys have since been removed from the home to stay with family members. Their parents have been charged with 10 counts of child endangering and have been ordered not to have contact with their kids.

Officer Dunham says he and the boy he found trying to sell his toy for food are now buds.

“I came back to check on him and he was hiding. He jumped out to scare me when I came back in the building; he got me real good,” shared Dunham. “(We) would like to go home at the end of the day feeling like (we’ve) done something positive and, you know, had some kind of positive impact.”

(Via WLWT & CNN)