Axel Rivas, the Chilean Dog Boy

The Chilean Dog-Boy

Axel Rivas had been thrown out of his home by abusive parents when he was five years old, and was then placed in a children's home. He didn't like it, and escaped in 1998, at the age of eight.

After that Axel lived with a pack of around 15 strays in the Chilean port of Talcahuano, sleeping with them in a cave on the outskirts of the town.

When he was first sighted by police on 16 June 2001, Axel Rivas made an escape attempt by jumping into the Pacific Ocean. He was eventually caught and take to a children's unit in Conceptión. "The dogs are my family," he told police. "Please let me go back to them."

Feral characteristics

"He's showing signs of depression, is aggressive and is not speaking much although he does know how to speak," Delia Delgatto, head of Chile's National Child-care Service said of Axel Rivas. "He was dressed almost in rags, was dirty and had filthy hair." His case caused a nationwide scandal in Chile.

Axel told police that he had sucked the milk of a pregnant dog for sustenance. "Yes, because I was hungry. It was my breakfast," he said. "He lived in a cave with dogs and roamed the streets for food with them. He would eat out of garbage cans and find leftovers," said Delgatto. "He wasn't reared by the dogs as such, he lived with them in a cave," she said.

Axel Rivas escapes again

At the beginning of November he ran away again from the children's home where he was being looked after. "He was responding well to psychiatric treatment and his relations with other people were improving but last week he got up and left," spokeswoman Miriam Olate said. Axel is believed to climbed over a wall to freedom.

Childcare workers said they had been talking to potential foster families before Axel escaped. "We were preparing him for a family atmosphere. His self control and attention were improving." Olate said.