Natasha Mikhailova, 5, does not speak, laps up her food and drink with her tongue, and walks on all fours. Photo: Will Stewart, Whitehotpix / ZUMA Press
The child was discovered living in an apartment in Chita, the capital of the Transbaikal region of Siberia. Apparently her father and grandparents kept her -- unwashed and dressed in rags -- in a room with dogs and cats. The girl understands some Russian but does not speak at all, instead barking like a dog. She laps her food off a plate instead of using silverware, and generally acts more like an animal than a human.
This story is just the latest case of feral children raised by animals. The most famous is probably Victor the "Wild Boy" of Aveyron, who spent his childhood in the woods before he was discovered near Saint-Semin-sur-Rance, France, in 1797. More recently, there is Oxana Malaya, a Ukranian girl whose alcoholic parents left her outside one night, inspiring her to crawl into a dog's den where she lived for the next five years. By the time she was found in 1991 she barked instead of speaking and ran around on all fours. Just this past February, another Russian girl was found being cared for by dogs, having been ignored for most of her life by her alcoholic mother.
Um, what's going on, Russia? It's incredibly sad that parents could be so indifferent and cruel towards their children, but it's also astounding that dogs will step in and provide warmth and food to abandoned humans. These pups really take "man's best friend" to a whole other level.
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