During my 2 week interview project in Ukraine, I spoke to many many people. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my recorder running 24/7. Someone told me this anecdote when I was not recording, but I can’t for the life of me remember who. So, here is my recollection of Face Eater the dog.
A volunteer was out in the de-occupied territories doing humanitarian work, and noticed a large amount of dogs. They were friendly enough so likely had once had owners who had evacuated or simply been killed. One particular dog seemed particularly friendly, so they decided to try and trap it and send it to a sanctuary in the west of Ukraine for rehoming.
The volunteer mentions to someone that they’re planning to trap this dog, and someone says (in Ukrainian) “oh you mean Face Eater?” Apparently this dog was infamous in the local community for preferring to eat the faces of the Russian corpses (I have been told that Russians tend not to bother recovering their dead). Still, the dog is friendly, so they go ahead with trapping it and arrange for Face Eater to be sent to a shelter. The volunteer never personally saw Face Eater eating anything but dog food.
A few months later the volunteer is back in the west of Ukraine, and visits with the shelter. By chance Face Eater’s new family is visiting (although assumedly he’s been renamed), and are very happy with their new family pet. They have a child (maybe 7 years old) who the dog loves, and the volunteer watches the dog excitedly licking the child’s face. They chose not to say anything as the dog apparently was super sweet at the shelter, zero signs of aggression. Just a normal family pet with an unusual favourite food.
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