OK a few stats..
In the last several years a surfeit of statistical informaton about dog bites have been generated by epidemiologists. This information has become widely disseminated on the internet, partially in an attempt to lessen the extent of the problem through education and increased public awareness about the circumstances and the kind of dogs known to be associated with attacks on people. Collecting dog bite statistics is certainly an important and valid area of public health inquiry: the frequency of dog bites is high and the emotional and physical damage inflicted onto a human, particularly a child, from an attack by a dog can be great. A better understanding of the epidemiology of dog bites thru description with statistics may help in the prevention of this widespread phenomenon.
The information presented below has been gathered from numerous sources, many of which include news reports on the internet. The reader should assumed the information below is accurate, although no validation has been made by this author.
Facts & Stats about Dog Bites & Dog Aggression
There are approximately 4. 5 million reported dog bites annually in the United States (nearly 2% of the American population). The majority of dog bites are never reported to local authorities.
40% of American dog owners acquired pets primarily for protection-including German shepherds, Rottweilers, mastiffs and Doberman pinschers. (Source: New York Times, 2/26/01)
Nationwide, U. S. Postal Service carriers suffered 3,423 dog attacks and bites in 2003.
According to the American Medical Association, dog bites are the second leading cause of childhood injury, surpassing playground accidents.
Dog bites to people of the male gender are approximately two times greater than the incidence involving females.
Dogs that are licensed with an identifiable owner are implicated in the vast majority of dog bites (compared with strays).
Dogs not known to the victim account for approximately 10 - 20% of all reported dog bites.
Dog between one and five years are involved in more dog bite incidences than dogs older than 6 years. Male dogs are more frequently involved when compared with female dogs.
Mixed breeds and not pure bred dogs are the type of dog most often involved in inflicting bites to people. The pure-bred dogs most often involved are German shepherds and Chow chows.
The list of breeds most involved in both bite injuries and fatalities changes from year to year and from one area of the country to another, depending on the popularity of the breed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document that a chained dog is 2. 8 times more likely to bite than an unchained dog. Click here for a news story about a mauling of a 4 year old child by a chained pit bull
Canines not spayed or neutered are three times more likely to bite than sterilized ones.
Of the estimated 4. 7 million people who were bitten by dogs in 1994, 800,000 sought medical care. Of these, 332,000 needed treatment in emergency rooms, and 6,000 were hospitalized. The average hospital stay for a dog-bite injury was 3. 6 days.
Emergency room costs for dog bite victims in the United States was about $102 million in 1994, and overall direct medical costs was about $165 million.
The majority of dog bites to adult humans are inflicted to the lower extremities followed by bites to the upper extremities including the head, face and neck. For children, 77% of dog bite injuries are to facial areas.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, dog bites accounted for about one-quarter of all claims on homeowner's insurance, costing more than $321 million in 2003. In 2002, the latest year for which numbers are available, the average claim for a dog bite was $16,600.
Dog attacks account for one-third of all liability claims on homeowners' insurance policies. According to the Western Insurance Information Service, the insurance industry paid out more than $1 billion in dog-bite claims in 1998 alone.
From 1979 to 1996, dog attacks resulted in more than 300 human dog bite related deaths in the United States. Most of the victims were children.
Approximately 20 people die every year as a result of a dog attack in the United States. By far, the majority of the victims are children.
In the two year period from 1997 to 1998, twenty-seven people died as a result of dog bite attacks (18 in 1997, and 9 in 1998).
Annually in the United States there are approximately 20 human fatalities directly resulting from a dog attack; this number is miniscule compared with human fatalities caused by gunshot (approximately 12,000 annually), accidents (approximately 100,000 annually) or health related disease processes (click here for table) (Click here for commentary on this subject)
The breeds most often involved in fatal attacks are Rottweilers and Pit bulls.
In the United States, pit bulls make up one to three per cent of the overall dog population and cause more than 50 per cent of serious attacks.
Of the 27 people who died as a result of dog bite attacks in 1997 and 1998, 67% involved unrestrained dogs on the owner's property; 19% involved unrestrained dogs off the owner's property; 11% involved restrained dogs on the owner's property; and 4% involved a restrained dog off the owner's property.
Of the 27 people who died as a result of dog bite attacks during 1997 and 1998, 67% involved an attack by one dog; 19% involved an attack by two dogs; and 15% involved an attack by 3 or more dogs.
From 1979 to 1998, at least 25 breeds of dogs have been involved in bite related deaths. Pit Bulls and Rottweilers were involved in more than 50 percent of these incidences.
In a study reported by a retired professor from California State University at Chino, Robert Plum, it was found that one dog in 55 will bite someone seriously during the course of a year. With respect to breed differences in the tendency to inflict serious injury, Plumb estimates that when a pit bull bites a human, one in 16 (e. g. 1/16) will inflict serious injury; this contrasts with a ratio of 1/296 Dobermans, and 1/156 German shepherds.
Dog Bite Statistics from: Texas, 1997, 1998; Australia (pdf file);
The Netherlands (pdf file), New Zealand, State of Nevada (USA) (pdf file)
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