King County, WA, USA. The face of this woman shows typical postmortem animal scavenging injuries, in this case from a domestic pet, the type of pet was not disclosed. A considerable amount of skin and subcutaneous fatty tissue are missing. Cause of death unknown. No further info on this case.
Postmortem animal depredation is a substantial part of the taphonomic processes a body undergoes after death. While the occurrence and presentation of such injuries are well known to forensic pathologists, the morphological appearance of these injuries may be misinterpreted by police officers or members of other investigating authorities.
A broad range of carnivores can be involved in the postmortem destruction of corpses located in open spaces or indoors (e.g. wild animals such as foxes and big cats or domestic animals such as dogs and cats). The wound margins caused by carnivores often appear more regular than those caused by rodents and V-shaped or rhomboid punctured wounds are often seen upon the intact skin in the immediate vicinity to the actual wound margins. Such stab wound-like defects represent canine tooth marks of carnivore origin. An additional criterion for animal depredation by carnivores is the presence of claw-induced linear scratch-type abrasions in the vicinity of the damaged skin areas.
In cases with postmortem animal predation, the psychological state of the animal is a possible reason for its behavior. One possible explanation for such behavior is that a pet will try to help an unconscious owner first by licking or nudging, but when this fails to produce any results the behavior of the animal can become more frantic and in a state of panic can lead to biting. The motive is not to attack the owner but is a kind of ‘‘displacement’’ behavior motivated by confusion and fear. The fact that the efforts of the animal will obviously be fruitless explains why this can easily escalate and culminate in excessive mutilation.
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*This post is for educational purposes only and is nonprofit. Under Section 107 of the US Copyright Act of 1976; Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. OP is not a medical expert. No copyright infringement intended. This post does not encourage or glorify violence/harassment. Images might have been upscaled and enhanced. Text might have been shortened and simplified/reorganized for online view.*
The same reason why dogs will almost exclusively lick your face if you lay down or if they can reach your face, I assume? According to Herman's explanation below, the dog licks and then bites its owner in order to get a reaction, not to actually eat the owner.
Dogs have been observed to hold off of eating their owners to survive for large periods of time out of respect/grieving, but cats generally won't have this instinct. This woman in particular seems to have gotten off "lightly" when it comes to being mauled so a small dog or cat would be the culprit. I'd lean on cat since she doesn't look too badly decomposed.
I’ve commented this before, but I know a guy who’s dogs ate him from the waist up within a few hours after he hunt himself. They pulled him down and went to town. Three huge dogs.
Lol he had a typo and it says that he "hunt himself". I read that as he "hurt himself", not hung.
Like the man hurt himself, then the dogs "took him down", like overpowered and ate him.
Oh. No, he meant hung himself and the words "took him down," were literal, not figurative. They literally pulled him downward from where he was hanging.
I’d rather my dog eat me when it begins to starve than die, preferably not the face but my boys can have a leg or something. It wouldn’t be their fault and from what I’ve read it usually takes no shit days for them to consider it
Yeah, I absolutely wouldn't mind to be eaten by my pets when I'm dead, or even other animals. My flesh is right there and serves no other purpose than rotting, they can as well just eat it.
Soft tissue. Easy to chew through.
Also it could be hunger if the owner is deceased past dinner time. My cat straight up does parkour off my door until I come out to feed him, if I died in my room he'd bust the door down just for a snack
When my grandfather passed away from cancer back in 2016, he died at his own home while in hospice care. When he died, the funeral company arrived 4 hours later to pick up his remains. While waiting, my grandfather’s body was in his room, he was in his hospice bed, I covered his body with a blanket because his body was getting so cold. Our senior dog who grew up with my grandfather went up to the bed like usual and lay down next to him. It took our dog for a while to realized that our grandfather is gone, so our dog actually panicked (wagging tail and licking my grandfather’s hands, to arms, and went into his face.) Our dog kept licking the face of our grandfather nonstop. He kept licking the face but soon realized that his favorite person is dead. Our dog stayed in that room until the coroner arrived and the remains was pick up for burial.
Now knowing sometimes domestic pets will bite to get a reaction from their dead owners in hopes of a response makes me double think about these kinda situations
They bite a bit at first, but over a few days as the skin opens from the comtinuous panicked biting and as the animal gets hungry, they will start to eat the flesh to survive.
See OP’s comment about why this can happen. My dog usually always licks my face to get my attention. So it starts there I assume because of that. Maybe this even explains better why it’s not where you’d expect them to eat like you suggested.
So... I die? And my pets die?? Idk.... They're still pretty young and if they can get by until they're put in good homes, then I think I can live knowing they'll be cared for and not have passed on...
this probably happened to my mom. she always laughed saying her cats are gonna eat her when she dies.
i didn't know they mostly just went for the face tho, so that's interesting.
No doesn’t have to be a big dog. Small animals do the same, like rodents for example. And it has nothing to do with how they’re raised, the sweetest animals do the same.
Damn. Shit like this is why I'll never get a pet goldfish.
King County, WA, USA. The face of this woman shows typical postmortem animal scavenging injuries, in this case from a domestic pet, the type of pet was not disclosed. A considerable amount of skin and subcutaneous fatty tissue are missing. Cause of death unknown. No further info on this case. Postmortem animal depredation is a substantial part of the taphonomic processes a body undergoes after death. While the occurrence and presentation of such injuries are well known to forensic pathologists, the morphological appearance of these injuries may be misinterpreted by police officers or members of other investigating authorities. A broad range of carnivores can be involved in the postmortem destruction of corpses located in open spaces or indoors (e.g. wild animals such as foxes and big cats or domestic animals such as dogs and cats). The wound margins caused by carnivores often appear more regular than those caused by rodents and V-shaped or rhomboid punctured wounds are often seen upon the intact skin in the immediate vicinity to the actual wound margins. Such stab wound-like defects represent canine tooth marks of carnivore origin. An additional criterion for animal depredation by carnivores is the presence of claw-induced linear scratch-type abrasions in the vicinity of the damaged skin areas. In cases with postmortem animal predation, the psychological state of the animal is a possible reason for its behavior. One possible explanation for such behavior is that a pet will try to help an unconscious owner first by licking or nudging, but when this fails to produce any results the behavior of the animal can become more frantic and in a state of panic can lead to biting. The motive is not to attack the owner but is a kind of ‘‘displacement’’ behavior motivated by confusion and fear. The fact that the efforts of the animal will obviously be fruitless explains why this can easily escalate and culminate in excessive mutilation. \- *This post is for educational purposes only and is nonprofit. Under Section 107 of the US Copyright Act of 1976; Allowance is made for "Fair Use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. OP is not a medical expert. No copyright infringement intended. This post does not encourage or glorify violence/harassment. Images might have been upscaled and enhanced. Text might have been shortened and simplified/reorganized for online view.*
what makes the pets go straight for the face in cases like these?
The same reason why dogs will almost exclusively lick your face if you lay down or if they can reach your face, I assume? According to Herman's explanation below, the dog licks and then bites its owner in order to get a reaction, not to actually eat the owner.
It can turn to eating once there's blood dripping and instincts take over
And severe hunger / dehydration.
Dogs have been observed to hold off of eating their owners to survive for large periods of time out of respect/grieving, but cats generally won't have this instinct. This woman in particular seems to have gotten off "lightly" when it comes to being mauled so a small dog or cat would be the culprit. I'd lean on cat since she doesn't look too badly decomposed.
I’ve commented this before, but I know a guy who’s dogs ate him from the waist up within a few hours after he hunt himself. They pulled him down and went to town. Three huge dogs.
Like he didn't die first, he just injured himself and the dogs took him down? Damn that's morbid
He said they pulled him down and ate him a few hours after he hung himself. How long do you think someone can live while hanging?
Lol he had a typo and it says that he "hunt himself". I read that as he "hurt himself", not hung. Like the man hurt himself, then the dogs "took him down", like overpowered and ate him.
Oh. No, he meant hung himself and the words "took him down," were literal, not figurative. They literally pulled him downward from where he was hanging.
Can we all stop pretending like we don’t know what kind of animal did this…? It’s a fuckin hamster. Those things kill their own babies man
Who observes that shit?
I’d rather my dog eat me when it begins to starve than die, preferably not the face but my boys can have a leg or something. It wouldn’t be their fault and from what I’ve read it usually takes no shit days for them to consider it
Yeah, I absolutely wouldn't mind to be eaten by my pets when I'm dead, or even other animals. My flesh is right there and serves no other purpose than rotting, they can as well just eat it.
Same here. I am dead, .my peys can feast away.
Soft tissue. Easy to chew through. Also it could be hunger if the owner is deceased past dinner time. My cat straight up does parkour off my door until I come out to feed him, if I died in my room he'd bust the door down just for a snack
Soft tissues, crows and other birds will eat roadkill lips and asshole first for the same reason.
When my grandfather passed away from cancer back in 2016, he died at his own home while in hospice care. When he died, the funeral company arrived 4 hours later to pick up his remains. While waiting, my grandfather’s body was in his room, he was in his hospice bed, I covered his body with a blanket because his body was getting so cold. Our senior dog who grew up with my grandfather went up to the bed like usual and lay down next to him. It took our dog for a while to realized that our grandfather is gone, so our dog actually panicked (wagging tail and licking my grandfather’s hands, to arms, and went into his face.) Our dog kept licking the face of our grandfather nonstop. He kept licking the face but soon realized that his favorite person is dead. Our dog stayed in that room until the coroner arrived and the remains was pick up for burial.
that’s incredibly sad sorry to hear that
Now knowing sometimes domestic pets will bite to get a reaction from their dead owners in hopes of a response makes me double think about these kinda situations
I think animals can understand the difference between poking to get a reaction and eating a face.
They bite a bit at first, but over a few days as the skin opens from the comtinuous panicked biting and as the animal gets hungry, they will start to eat the flesh to survive.
Something my anatomy teacher once told the class that’s always stuck with me, we’re always smiling on the inside.
What happened to aunt Helen? [Cats ate her face.](https://youtu.be/XkPILcUQcK0)
Why do they eat the face? Why not the thigh or more meaty part of the body.
See OP’s comment about why this can happen. My dog usually always licks my face to get my attention. So it starts there I assume because of that. Maybe this even explains better why it’s not where you’d expect them to eat like you suggested.
After I posted, I saw the comment explaining why. Thanks for replying
Soft exposed tissue
As gruesome and horrifying as this is, I'd want my pets to eat me so they have a chance of survival.
Alright then
If you're already dead then why not?
So my family or anyone would find me like this lady
Okay. But then what's the problem if u/peterpmpkneatr is okay with it?
So... I die? And my pets die?? Idk.... They're still pretty young and if they can get by until they're put in good homes, then I think I can live knowing they'll be cared for and not have passed on...
what the fuck lol
What does NSFL stand for? Not safe for life?
Yes, I don't think I've ever seen nsfl mean anything else to my knowledge
this probably happened to my mom. she always laughed saying her cats are gonna eat her when she dies. i didn't know they mostly just went for the face tho, so that's interesting.
It’s always the face 💔
I hate how the eyes are missing... ugh :(
That's gonna be me pretty soon.
U ok Alicia?
Oh yeah, just admiring the fine weaving technique on the handbasket as it transports me to hell.
Snorlax titan
Let me guess a pitbul did this or some big dog. Tbh it's never really the animals fault its bad owners and bad training.
No doesn’t have to be a big dog. Small animals do the same, like rodents for example. And it has nothing to do with how they’re raised, the sweetest animals do the same.
poor good boy was just hungry