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Home > News > Vol. XLIII, No.3, July 1999 > Dog Bites

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Dog Bites

In May, 1999, the Humane Society of Canada offered $1 million support for a nation-wide campaign to prevent dog bites.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.7 million Americans C almost two per cent of the American population C are bitten by dogs each year. Of these, 3,000 are letter carriers, and up to half of all children have at one time been bitten by a dog. The lack of detailed statistics for Canada is a concern which the Humane Society hopes to address in its campaign.

Children are the most common victims of severe dog bites. A Health Canada study¹ suggests this is because young children lack judgement or have difficulty recognizing the dog=s warning signs, and are more likely to act in a way the dog considers threatening.

Canadian and Dutch Reports

In March 1999, the Dutch Consumer Safety Institute reported on a survey of 164 dog-bite victims². The Netherlands has a dog population of 1.2 million. Out of the 15.6 million population, one in 13 people owns a dog. Emergency departments treat about 12,000 dog bite victims every year and hospitals admit 220. About 40 per cent of the victims are under 10 years old.

A 1996 study by the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) focused primarily on children. Out of 385 patients, almost 2/3 (64.7%) were under 10.

Breeds that bite

In the Netherlands, the breeds responsible for the most bites were Rottweiler (20 per cent), and Golden and Labrador Retriever (15 per cent). CHIRPP ranked the most common breeds causing a bite injury as German Shepherds, Cocker Spaniels, Rottweilers and Golden Retrievers.

Golden and Labrador Retrievers have a reputation for being friendly and good-natured. The high number of bites is because they are very common. The Dutch survey found that for Rottweilers and Bull Terriers, the chances of biting are seven and six times higher respectively than for other pedigree breeds.

Other comparisons

Netherlands Canada

Only 24 per cent of the victims were bitten by a stranger dog. In the other cases, the culprit was either the victim=s own dog (31 per cent) or that of someone known to them (45 per cent). Most bites (63 per cent) were caused by pet dogs. The victim knew the dog in 71.2 per cent of the cases, and lived with the dog in 25.7 per cent of the cases.

Half the dogs which bit people had done so before. Most dogs (71.6 per cent) had not previously bitten a person.

The most commonly cited activities immediately preceding the bite were: playing with the dog, separating fighting dogs, helping an injured or sick dog, and talking with the owner. Over 1/3 of patients (38.5 per cent) reported ordinary interaction with the dog (e.g. petting, feeding or playing); slightly fewer (32.7 per cent) reported unusual interaction (e.g. teasing, hurting, taking away food or a toy; and 28.8 per cent reported no interaction whatsoever (e.g. the victim was walking, cycling or delivering newspapers).

Of the dogs which bit, 32 per cent had been on an obedience course. Only 11.2 per cent of the dogs had received obedience training.

In the Dutch study, most victims stated that the biting could have been prevented if the dog had been on a lead, properly secured, better supervised, better trained or the owner had more authority over it.

The Canadian study found that bites occurred more often in the summer, during the evening between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and more often at a home than in a public place.

1. CHIRPP NEWS (Issue 11, July 1997), Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program, Health Canada
2. CISE (March 1999), Dutch Consumer Safety Institute

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