People walking near Knott Landfill earlier this month were met with an unsettling surprise when one of their dogs returned with a human foot in its mouth.

Law enforcement said the foot was likely disposed of improperly and by accident, saying they have “a high degree of confidence” that it was medically amputated, according to a news release from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to SE 27th Street after receiving a report of human remains on Jan. 21. The people who made the report said they were walking their dogs in a field across the street from the Knott Landfill when one returned with “what initially appeared to be a portion of a human foot.”

Deputies took the foot and contacted different agencies for assistance to help figure out how it ended up in a vacant field next to the landfill.

“Investigators have determined the partial remains are not suspicious in nature and more likely than not is a result of accidental improper disposal,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Wall said Monday in a news release. “It is with a high degree of confidence that the remains are a result of a medical procedure.”