BOSSIER CITY, La. -- A Louisiana couple is facing negligence charges after a puppy chewed off four of a baby girl's toes.

They told police they were awakened by their 1-month-old baby's cries on Sunday morning, saw her mangled foot and rushed her to the hospital. But doctors couldn't reattach the toes.

A veterinarian speculates the 6-week-old pit bull puppy might have been trying to nurse.

"She had a severe injury to one foot, with most of the toes missing," Bossier City spokesman Mark Natale told The Shreveport Times. "Patrol officers who responded notified detectives, and after our juvenile detectives unit looked into it, they determined the child, who had been sleeping in a baby carrier next to her parents, had been bitten by the family's pit bull puppy, who appears to have gnawed on the child's foot."

Natale told the newspaper that the parents took a mattress into their living room to watch television and fell asleep. The child was in an infant seat beside them when the pup began chewing on her toes.

"They did not see the dog injuring the child," Natale said.

The animal will be quarantined for 10 days and checked for rabies since it is too young to have had rabies shots. It's unclear what will happen to it after that.

The baby is now in foster care until the case against her parents is settled. Her parents, Mary Shannon Hansche, 22, and Christopher Wayne Hansche, 26, have been booked for investigation of child desertion and criminal negligence.

If convicted, the parents face a fine of up to $500 and up to six months in prison.