Russian child protection officers have taken into care a five-year-old girl who barks and laps up food like a dog, having had more contact with canines than humans, police said on Wednesday.
The girl had been found in a filthy apartment living with her father and grandparents but also cats and several dogs, with which she appeared more comfortable, police in the Eastern Siberian city of Chita said in a statement.
Never allowed outdoors, the girl had not learned to speak but communicated by barking. When discovered by child protection officers, “the unwashed girl was dressed in filthy clothes” and “threw herself at people like a little dog.”
The apartment’s owners “practically never let anyone into the apartment and themselves only went out to walk their pets, trying to avoid meeting their neighbors.
“In all these years, the girl managed to master the animal language only,” the statement said, adding that the girl could understand Russian, while not speaking it.
“For about five years the girl was ‘brought up’ by several dogs and cats and not once went outside,” the statement said.
Currently living in a care facility and receiving medical and psychiatric help, the girl continues “to jump against the door and bark” if her carers leave the room she is occupying, it said.
The Vesti TV channel reported the head of the care center said the girl was still exhibiting dog-like behavior and preferred to lap up her food rather than using cutlery.
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