Dogs will eat people, including their owners' corpses

One possible explanation for this scavenging behavior is that the pet will first try to help awaken an unconscious person by licking or nudging it," Rothschild "But if this doesn't work, the pet's behavior can slip into a state of mania and panic, which may ultimately result in biting the owner," he wrote in the report. "

Once you start biting, eating is a matter of course. Lando said, "So it is not necessarily that the dog wants to eat the owner, but that they automatically start the process of devouring after tasting the blood. ”

A case of a corpse eaten by a family pet dog

In a 2007 report, a Chow Chow and a Labrador retrieved their owner's body after eating it. It survived for about a month, and in the end only the top of the skull and various bone fragments remained.
In 1997, shortly after a man died, his German shepherd began to eat his body.
In a summary study of pet scavenging incidents in 2015, it was found that in 24% of the cases, it was less than a day from the death of the owner to the discovery of the pet being eaten. What's more, some dogs clearly have other food but don't pay attention to it.
The way pet dogs eat their owners’ corpses is also different from the feeding behavior of wild dogs. When dogs ate the bodies of their dead owners, 73% of the cases were on the face and only 15% were on the abdomen.

Why such a loyal dog eats its owner

1. Because of survival instinct

Psychologist Stanley Coren in the book Speaking of "Dogs evolved from wolves. Assuming that the owner is dead and there is no other food source, what will the dog do? As long as there is meat around, they will eat it."
In some cases Below, the animal apparently eats its owner to survive. In the aforementioned 2007 report, a Chow Chow and a Labrador survived for about a month without any food after eating their owner's body.

2. Because of the fear of losing their owner

Dogs are extremely afraid of losing their owners. They want your dog to wake you up every morning to see if you are alive. If you lick your When you don't have any physiological activity, the dog will try to help wake up an unconscious person by licking or nudging through its own methods. But if this is ineffective, the pet's behavior will fall into a state of madness and panic, and eventually May cause biting of the owner. "

3. When the biting behavior starts, it becomes the instinct to eat.

Once the biting starts, eating is a matter of course. Lando said, "So it is not necessarily a dog. Want to eat the owner, but they automatically taste the bloodThe process of devouring began. ”

4. Dogs with separation anxiety are more likely to eat corpses

An insecure and frightened dog will often show symptoms of separation anxiety. These dogs are more likely to lick frantically. Then he started biting and finally ate the owner’s body.

How to protect your body from being eaten by pets

Pet owners want to reduce the chance of being eaten , the best way is to make sure that someone will come to check for abnormalities when you have no news. At the same time, if you have elderly and frail neighbors, you should always check if they are okay.
From this point of view, make sure there are people around Companionship is necessary, and social activities in the elderly can be of great benefit to everyone.