Does Your Dog Bite?
“Woof!” If every dog in the United States made that sound one little doggy in the window at a time, we would hear almost 75 million “barks…and that’s just from the dogs that we know about! As everything I typically write about relates directly back to this thing of ours, reported dog bites occur nearly 4.7 million times a year according to the Center for Disease Control, and almost a million of them will require medical attention, with the average American having a one in 50 chance of being bitten by a dog each year. “Dog bites are probably the single most common cause of liability claims on a homeowner’s policy,” says Bill Wilson of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (per a piece in AARP online magazine). The Insurance Information Institute (III) estimates that dog bites account for one-third of all liability claims, with a payout on the average claim of $24,840, for a total of over $1 billion annually from approximately 20,000 individual claims.
Most dog bites are caused by a small group of large breeds that include Pit Bulls, Rottweiler’s, Cane Corsos, and a few others (which includes combinations of the mix of these breeds). In addition, the following are statistics from attacks caused by this group alone:
• 79% of attacks cause bodily harm
• 72% of attacks are to children
• 77% result in maiming
However, 25 different breeds have been involved in 238 fatalities caused by dog bites, and 24% of deaths that have occurred were caused by dogs that were unrestrained off of their owners’ property, and 58% of deaths involved unrestrained dogs on their owners’ property. It is understood that chaining a dog increases stress on the animal, increases their protectiveness, causes additional awareness of vulnerability, and therefore increases the potential for the dog to be aggressive. However, dogs that are allowed to roam loose outside of their owners’ yard may perceive your entire neighborhood as their “territory” and may defend it aggressively. If confining the dog is the intention, it is highly suggested that the animal be fenced versus tethered, as chaining the dog increases the chances that he will bite 2.8 times.
What is even more interesting, is that 92% of attacks that are fatal are inflicted by male dogs, 94% of them being unneutered (that statistic alone is worth an entire article on its own!) 25% of those fatal attacks are from dogs who were restrained when the attack occurred (chained dogs are 2.8 times more likely to bite) and 71% of the attacks were bites to the arms, legs, hands and feet of the victim. The number of Americans who had to be hospitalized as a result of dog bites went up 86% in the past 16 years, from 5,100 hospitalizations in 1993, to 9,500 in 2008. The average cost of treatment was $18,200 per patient, and the patient was generally a child under 5 years of age. However, interestingly enough, in 2001, 16,476 dog bites to persons aged 16 years or greater were work related incidents.
Furthermore, according to the American Humane Society, getting bitten by a dog is the fifth most frequent cause of visits to emergency rooms caused among children, although the leading causes of emergency room visits overall are falls, being struck by or against an object, natural or environmental causes, poisoning, being cut or pierced, and motor vehicle accident. In addition:
• 50% of dog attacks involved children under 12 years old
• 82% of dog bites treated in the emergency room involved children under 15 years old
• 70% of dog-bite fatalities occurred among children under 10 years old
• Bite rates are dramatically higher among children who are 5 to 9 years old
• Unsupervised newborns were 370 times more likely than an adult to be killed by a dog
• 65% of bites among children occur to the head and neck
• Boys under the age of 15 years old are bitten more often than girls of the same age
Although children are the most likely to be bitten by a dog, seniors over 65 years of age are also very often attacked and bitten. Then of course we have the “mailman” who gets bit approximately 2900 times per year nationally.
To protect our families and ourselves from dog bites, the American Humane Society has the following simple yet important suggestions if you own, or are confronted by, a dog:
What can parents do?
• Educate your children. Studies have found that the number-one dog-bite prevention measure is education. Children who understand how to act around dogs, how to play with dogs, when to leave dogs alone and how to properly meet a dog are much less likely to be bitten. To address this need, American Humane has created American Humane KIDS: Kids Interacting with Dogs Safely™, (http://www.americanhumane. org/interaction/programs/human e-education/kids-kids-interacting-withdogs. html) a dog-bite prevention program specifically for children ages 4 to 7.
• Supervise your children. Unsupervised children may innocently wander too close to a dangerous situation. Eightyeight percent of fatal dog attacks among 2-year-olds occurred when the child was left unsupervised. Supervision of children, especially around dogs, is one way to help ensure they are safe.
Safe rules of behavior for kids: Don’t treat a dog unkindly.
• Never hit, kick, slap or bite a dog or pull on his ears, tail or paws.
Don’t bother a dog when she is busy.
• Never bother dogs with puppies or dogs that are playing with or guarding toys, eating or sleeping. Always leave service dogs alone while they are working.
Don’t approach a dog you don’t know.
• Never approach a dog that is tied up, behind a fence or in a car.
• If you find an animal, call the police or animal control for help.
• If you want to meet a dog, first ask the owner for permission. If the owner says it’s OK, hold out your hand in a fist for the dog to sniff. If he’s interested, you can give him a little scratch under the chin (not over the head) and say hello.
Do be calm.
• Always talk in a quiet voice or whisper — no shouting — and take a “time out” if you feel angry or frustrated.
Do be still.
• If a loose dog approaches you, stand still like a tree. Keep your hands at your sides, and stay quiet and calm. Look away from the dog.
• If you are on the ground, curl up into a ball, like a rock. Keep your knees to your chest and your hands over your ears. Stay quiet and calm. Look down at your knees, not at the dog.
• Always make slow movements, set things down carefully and don’t run when you’re around dogs, as this gets them excited and they may accidently hurt you.
What can dog owners do?
• Spay or neuter your dog. (http://www.americanhumane.org/a nimals/adoption-pet-care/caring-foryour- pet/spaying-neutering.html)
• Neutering reduces aggression, especially in males. Un-neutered dogs are more than 2.6 times more likely to bite than neutered dogs. Female dogs in heat and nursing moms are much more dangerous than spayed females, and their behavior can be unpredictable. Talk to your veterinarian to schedule an appointment, or contact your local humane organization or animal shelter for information on lowcost spay/neuter assistance.
Supervise your dog.
• Dogs left on their own may feel uncertain and defensive, or even overly confident, and this poses risks to your dog, as well as to other people and dogs. Eighty-eight percent of fatal dog attacks among 2-year-olds occurred when the child was left unsupervised.
Train and socialize your dog.
• Be sure your dog interacts with and has good manners around all members of the family, the public and other animals. Basic training is as important for the owner as it is for the dog, and socialization is the key to a welladjusted adult dog. It is essential that puppies between 8 and 16 weeks old be exposed to a variety of people, places, dogs and other animals. As dogs age, do your best to continue their exposure to these things to ensure that they are well socialized throughout their lives.
Well, not much happening around town in the convention world during these “dog days of winter” (pardon the pun but to me that’s the “boring” time between New Year’s Day and the first day of spring and right after St. Patrick’s Day). Coming up are a few winter conferences in the northeast that I will be attending and chatting about in this column afterwards…and I hope to see you there. Maybe if Peter Sellers was a little more familiar with some of the above, we wouldn’t have that hysterical clip from the movie “The Pink Panther Strikes Again”! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just Google the line, “Does your dog bite?” Ciao for now!
