Siberian child 'raised by dogs'

[Posteritatis]

Source: BBC News

Russian officials have taken a five-year-old Siberian girl into care, saying that she had apparently been "brought up" by cats and dogs.

The girl, who is unable to speak, was discovered living in a squalid flat in the Siberian city of Chita.

Police said she had never been allowed outside and had adopted the behaviour of the animals she lived with.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8070814.stm

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I hear of one or two of these a year; they're pretty high up on my "horrified fascination" list. It's sad that it's almost impossible for a child to completely recover from this kind of, er, upbringing.

[Kerrytravelers]

1. Another Feral Child. This is so sad.

[liberalmuse]

2. I think these children...

would be better off living amongst the dogs and cats who raised them. We 'civilized' human beings think it is sad, but it is more likely that the children would be much happier if left alone. Civilization is way overrated.

[grilled onions]

3. Unconditional Love...

Animals came to her rescue when her human parents failed her. Animals don't seem to judge and they are born with nurturing that many human parent seem to have a shortage of these days.

[Orrex]

7. For every feral child raised by a nurturing animal...

there are probably dozens of kids mauled to death by less-than-nurturing animals, so it's kind of a toss-up.

[Sal Minella]

10. The two-legged less-than-nurturing animals are the worst, imho.

[Nevernose]

16. They're the ones who should know better.

[meow2u3]

27. The two-legged animals belong in a kill shelter

Better known as prison.

[Sal Minella]

28. A compulsory neutering program simultaneously would be good too.

But I am hoping for too much, perhaps.....

[rapturedbyrobots]

11. bull

this kind of romanticizing of animal behavior is completely wrong and ends up motivating a lot of misguided attitudes and policies towards animals. animals are not necessarily nurturing or possessing some naturally enhanced mothering instinct. try breeding mice for a while like i do for my work and you might change your mind. many many many female mice are absolutely terrible mothers, often completely neglecting their litters, and sometimes they are even infanticidal and cannibalistic even when they have ad libitum access to food and water.

[Toucano]

4. It is incredible. I share your "horrified fascination". n-t

[DesertDiamond]

5. I find this very moving.Animals are so much more intelligent than most people give them credit for.

[xchrom]

6. dogs did what her family and people wouldn't or couldn't. nt

[MilesColtrane]

8. Anybody else craving a nice, tall, cold glass of Schnauzer milk?

[raventattoo]

9. Dogs are most amazing creatures.

And in this case, this dog lover credits the cats.
Fascinating is an appropriate word.
Dogs are thoughtful, emotional creatures and have more reasoning capabilities than given credit. They are toally social and feed off the company that keeps them. I call them creatures and not animals--a term better fit for us humans.
Horrible story though.

[nolabear]

12. There are some misconceptions here

Just because she grew up wiith the dogs and cats doesn't mean they "raised" her in any altruistic, better-than-people" way (and believe me, I love me some dogs and cats; I'm writing from under a pile of them now). As pack animals I expect the dogs accepted her, the cats tolerated her,and as a child obviously severely neglected by her mother, she got what she could get and identified with the only family she had.

She won't ever "get over" this, though. Humans learn to be human from other humans at the beginning of life. I've heard of some amazing work being done, so maybe, but this level of early neglect has profound effects on intelligence, language acquisition, emotional regulation and self-and-other identity.

Adore your children, people.

[Posteritatis]

13. Yep; if they're 'raised' before language acquisition it's almost hopeless

I've heard of a few children in these sorts of situations who recovered and are either mostly or wholly "normal" now, but they'd all gotten into that state after they were socialized enough to get language.

Also, hee at the mental image of a couple of arms reaching out of a pile of dogs and cats to type.

[foxfeet]

14. Good thing Sarah Palin didn't mistake the child for a wolf,

given how Palin can see Russia from her porch.

[uppityperson]

15. What did she eat? How did the dogs/cats keep her inside?

Or am I missing something, can't tell from the story if she was living with parents who left her alone all day/night with dogs/cats, or what

[Regret My New Name]

26. Sounds like the parents kept her locked inside there and neglected her

At least that is what I'm thinking since it says the police have the mother.

[applegrove]

17. I can't believe it still happens.

[Norrin Radd]

18. Watch this intro to a recent doc on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljVd6XS-J0s

I think it's more a matter of the kid emulating the behavior of the animals, as opposed to being "raised" by them.

[proteus_lives]

20. I have to say....

Awesome name and icon! :yourock:

Make mine Marvel!

[Norrin Radd]

21. Same to you (fellow mythology buff).

:fistbump:

Unless you were referring to the mutant, which is still cool. ;-)

[proteus_lives]

22. Both!

Greek mythology was one of my first literary passions, that's probably why Proteus caught my eye in Uncanny X-Men.

:toast:

[Norrin Radd]

23. Was your first exposure to mythology the D'Aulaires'

Greek and Norse myths books, as a kid?

[proteus_lives]

24. Nailed it!

I read those books to tatters.

You too?

;-)

[proteus_lives]

19. Probably always will.

It's one of those constant "weird happenings" in human history. I imagine as long as there are wild spaces or their urban counterparts, it will happen.

[Name removed]

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