Feral Girl
July 25th, 2006 | researchmaterial
Up to this point, you think the girl could be acting – but the moment she shakes her head and neck free of droplets, exactly like a dog when it emerges from a swim, you get a creepy sense that this is something beyond imitation. Then, she barks.
The furious sound she makes is not like a human being pretending to be a dog. It is a proper, chilling, canine burst of aggression and it is coming from the mouth of a young woman, dressed in T-shirt and shorts.
This is 23-year-old Oxana Malaya reverting to behaviour she learnt as a young child when she was brought up by a pack of dogs on a rundown farm in the village of Novaya Blagoveschenka, in the Ukraine. Oxana Malaya is now in a clinic and unlikely ever to leave as she lacks the skills to survive…
is the award-winning creator of graphic novels such as 
why truely odd.
makes me wish I had british t.v.
Bull.
Shit.
Interesting stuff. Also, somebody’s put the Channel 4 program on this up over at YouTube. It’s about forty-eight minutes long.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BsfvSWljqpc&search=mindshock
scchweet!
I saw a CBC documentary program on feral children a few months back, and one of the kids featured was Oxana. It’s a truly sad thing thing to see kids so horribly abused or neglected that they no longer understand what it means to be human.
“Tell me, do you like to fuck like the dog?”
-Marquis de Sade, The Invisibles v1#8
From what I’ve read and seen, she seems like a disturbed young woman who had an abusive childhood and now seeks attention by acting “dog-like,” because people expect it of her. The period of time when she was being “brought up” by dogs was actually quite late in her development, relatively speaking (assuming the story is even true). The various camera crews coming to film her are probably causing her “dog behavior” more than living with the dogs itself did.
The “wolf-girls” of India seemed like a much more convincing case of actual “feral children.” ( http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=kamala )
I’ve seen a tv special on her and other feral children. I think feral children are incredibly interesting.
And also, that they would probably be happier left to their own devices, since so many seem to wither and die once they are ’saved’.
Bob Barker says:
“Be sure to spay or neuter your feral child!”
“…dangerously low boredom threshold.”
I can relate. To that bit, anyway.
“She has had boyfriends but she doesn’t have the ability to form long-term relationships or to understand give and take. She would rather fall out than compromise.”
I thought she looked familiar.
I’m rather curious about the boyfriends she’s had. And whether or not they fight the urge to make doggy style jokes…
I remember when they found her – I have a copy of the news article in one of my journals somewhere. An intriguing and sad story. Wherever she ends up, I hope she has a good life. It sounds like the people who are looking after her care about her, anyway.
Norhaven, thanks for the link to the program!
Bob, why so cynical? What are your grounds for doubting this story? Three years is still very young developmentally speaking, and if she had already been disadvantaged by lack of attention from her parents, then it’s likely she would have been behind on her development anyway.
This girl is a textbook case of Multiple Personality Disorder, she is not a wild dog girl! Without proper diagnosis, she is likely missing resources that could be of great benefit to her! This article goes on to state that she is getting vocational training, but no therapy at all!
Children of MPD, without exception, come from histories of severe abuse, abuse that has likely gone unreported. There is little doubt in my mind that this child could benefit from expert care from people highly trained in working with this disorder. This is far beyond my own expertise, however, I have little doubt whatsoever that this is the proper diagnosis for Oxsana.
Kathleen McDonald MS – Counsling, Marriage and Family Therapy