subject: Dangerous Dogs And Us Dog Bite Statistics [print this page] Dog attacks and bites are a major public health concern all over the world. In the United State of America, it has been notice that dogs bite more than four million people every single year, which sometimes results in fatalities.
In an issue of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine (2009;20:19-25), Ricky Langley from the Division of Public Health in Raleigh, North Carolina published a certain article which he entitled, Human Fatalities Resulting From Dog Attacks in the United States, 1979-2005.
Dog bite statistics are instructive. In the years researched, there was an average of 19 deaths every year from dog attacks. It was noted that males and children less than 10 years of age had the highest rate of death from dog attacks, with Alaska reporting the highest death rate. The number of deaths and death rate from dog attacks appear to be risen; it is for no other reason than there are more people and more dogs, in both absolute numbers and in proximity.
It is good to be a dog lover [friend of dogs], but you should be aware both as an owner and as an emergency physician that dogs will sometimes bite people, even with serious consequences.
Here are what dogs bite may cause: In addition to causing deaths, it may cause disfigurement, morbid injuries, and both systemic and wound infections. Most dog bites normally comes from domestic breeds, rather than wild dogs.
But however, domestic breeds are sometimes raised for their fighting and attack potential. Now when people come into contact with these pets, the encounters can be harsh and unpredictable. Furthermore, even friendly or familiar dogs will bite in most cases when threatened in a number of different ways.
How to stop all these from a dog? First and foremost you should know is, prevention is paramount, then followed by the person knowing how best to defend himself or herself if attacked. While non-provoked attacks are most common, and perhaps are so difficult to predict and avoid, provoked attacks will not occur absent the provocation.
And children should not be exclusive from this, because kids in particular may inadvertently provoke pets attacks by teasing the animals or appearing to be in flight. Getting off a dog attack often requires a weapon or advanced knowledge about how to repel a predatory action from a larger, or certainly stronger, animal. If a dog is behaving aggressively or strange, it should be avoided and, if possible, reported to animal control authorities.
