"I was sickened at what I witnessed last night," said Schmaling. "This by far, is one of the most disturbing and heart-wrenching cases of child abuse I've seen, it doesn't get much worse than this."
The victim and a 10-year-old sibling have been placed into protective custody after Lalonde and Deavers' arrests.
The grandmother was apparently the children's caregiver and deputies are trying to find their biological parents.
Deputies and caseworkers from the Racine County Human Services Department were called to an elementary school in Wind Lake for a child abuse report, the sheriff''s office said.
An investigation has revealed that a 9-year-old girl was being held in a dog cage at night and occasionally during the daytime at her home in Norway, and that the kennel was padlocked "to prevent the child from escaping", according to the sheriff's office statement.
Deputies went to the home and found the kennel, which measured 1.25m high, 2.4m long and 1.2m wide.
NBC Chicago reported that the metal enclosure was fitted with a makeshift cardboard floor and a couple of blankets.
"I wouldn't treat my own dog that way," said the sheriff, who has three children of his own.
According to investigators, on some days, the girl spent up to 12 hours confined to the cage, and the ordeal had lasted for at least a week.
Her older sibling was not kept in the kennel.
