Malchik
Encyclopedia
Malchik (died 2001) was a black mongrel
Mixed-breed dog
A mixed-breed dog, also known as a mutt or mongrel, is a dog whose ancestry is generally unknown and that has characteristics of two or more types of breeds. A mixed-breed may be a cross-breed dog, a random-bred dog, or a descendant of feral or pariah dog populations...

 stray dog
Free-ranging urban dog
Free-ranging urban dog refers to populations of stray dogs on the streets of urban areas, especially the cities of India, the former Soviet Union, the Balkans and Latin America .-Stray dogs:...

 living in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. For about three years, Malchik lived at the Mendeleyevskaya station
Mendeleyevskaya
Mendeleyevskaya is a station of the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line of the Moscow Metro. It was opened on 31 December 1988. Its depth is . The transfer to the Novoslobodskaya station of the Koltsevaya Line is available....

 on the Moscow Metro
Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro is a rapid transit system serving Moscow and the neighbouring town of Krasnogorsk. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. As of 2011, the Moscow Metro has 182 stations and its route length is . The system is...

. Malchick became a popular station "resident" among rail employees and commuters, and territorially protected the station from drunks and other dogs. Malchik was killed when a 22-year-old woman Yulia Romanova stabbed him with a kitchen knife. Later it was revealed that Romanova has a long history of cruelty to animals and psychiatric treatment. The incident sparked a wave of public outrage regarding the treatment of animals
Cruelty to animals
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with...

, and, in 2007, a monument was erected in Malchik's honour at Mendeleyevskaya station.

Death

On a winter evening in 2001, 22-year-old Yulia Romanova was passing through Mendeleyevska station with her pet Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a medium-sized, short-coated, old-time breed of dog. It is an English dog, where it is the 5th most popular breed, and related to the bull terrier...

. They encountered Malchik in a pedestrian underpass, and the stray dog territorially barked at the pair. One report holds that Romanova set her dog on the sleeping Malchik. Romanova reached into her purse, removed a kitchen knife, and stabbed Malchick six times in the back, chest and stomach. The dog died several minutes later. Romanova was arrested, tried, and underwent one year of psychiatric treatment.

Monument

In 2007, a monument entitled "Compassion" (or "Sympathy") was erected at Mendeleevskaya station. It was erected on the night of 15/16 February 2007 and officially unveiled on 17 February. A bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 sculpture of Malchik was placed on a monolithic pedestal of serpentine. Among the artists responsible for the monument were sculptor Alexander Tsigal, artist Sergey Tsigal, architect Andrey Nalich, and designer Peter Nalich. The unveiling ceremony was attended by notable artists, many of whom had donated money for the monument's installation, including Andrey Makarevich, Mikhail Shirvindt, Veniamin Smekhov
Veniamin Smekhov
Veniamin Borisovich Smekhov is a Soviet and Russian actor and stage director.Smekhov has long worked in the Moscow Taganka Theatre where his roles included Woland in a stage adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. In film, he is most known and loved for the role of Athos in a...

, Oleg Anofriev, Ludmila Kasatkina and Sergey Yursky.
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