2009 Dog Bite Fatalities Final Report Usa 2009

[Swiss Girl]

This is a very long article which examines each of the 33 deaths due to dog attacks in USA last year, I have only copied part of it here as I think it really is a bit to long. It is very interesting and you can certainly see a pattern devloping.

http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/dog...atalities-2009/

In total, there were 33 dog-bite related fatalities (32 events) in 2009.

-- 16 different dog breeds, or mixes thereof, were involved (counting 'mixed breed' as it's own category).

-- 9 cases involved chained dogs

-- 8 cases were in areas that were affected with high poverty rates

-- 4 cases involved packs of feral or near feral dogs

-- 3 involved newborns

of the 5 incidents that were covered by 150 media sources or more, 2 involved 'pit bulls', 1 involved a Rottweiler, 1 involved a pit bull/akita mix (that was widely reported as a 'pit bull mix') and 1 involved a Weimaraner.

-- There were 7 incidents that were covered by fewer than 6 media outlets, the breeds involved were Husky, Chow Chow, Husky, Boxers, Australian Shepherd/Blue Heeler mixes and a Great Dane.

Yes, apparently all attacks are not created equally in the eyes of the media.

The attacks fall into roughly 4 categories:

1) Children under 1 year of age: 5 fatalities -- 3 of the children were less than 3 weeks old. 3 different breeds of dogs were involved. Introducing a child into a family with a dog can be tricky, and takes a little dedication by the owners/parents. This is why I recommend any newly expecting parent to read sites dedicated to dog training with young children. I interviewedthe founder of one such organization, Jennifer Shyrock of Dogs & Storks earlier this year and this is a great first source for expecting parents who own dogs.

2) Children 1 year to 5 years -- I've chosen this division because this is roughly the area where children become mobile, yet are still too young to be truly able to deal with most situations unsupervised. 13 of the fatalities fell into this category -- 8 different breeds were involved. In 9 of the attacks, the child was left unsupervised -- in 4 of those, the child left the house under their own accord. Chaining appears to have played a role in 8 of the 13 attacks (I'll talk a little bit more about this in a separate post later in the week).

3) Older Children - 5-15 years of age - There were two attacks here, two different breeds of dogs involved. Chaining was a factor in one of the two attacks.

4) Adults - 12 victims here, in 11 different incidences. Nine different breeds of dogs involved. In 5 of the cases (6 victims), victims were attacked by a pack of dogs -- with anywhere from 3 to 16 dogs being involved. Most of these cases involved wild or feral dogs. In two of the cases, the victim got in the middle of two other dogs either fighting or breeding and was attacked. Four cases involved individual dogs (with four different breeds involved). Six of the victims were over the age of 65, with 3 of them being over the age of 85.

It appears that major improvements could be made in preventing these attacks if we did the following:

1) Worked harder to educate new parents how to socialize their pets with newborn children.

2) Emphasized supervising younger children when they interact with dogs.

3) End the process of leaving dogs chained 24/7 as their primary or sole form of containment.

4) Educate owners that early signs of aggression should be dealt with through training and socialization and not avoided. Many of the dogs involved had previously shown signs of aggression.

5) Deal with large packs of wild and feral dogs.

[Robbi]

Interesting reading, I would like to see the mainstream media publish these findings rather than the rubbish that they regurgitate about blood thirsty family pets that turn on their owners out of the blue

Unfortunately I dont think truth has much chance against propaganda.

[Zhou Xuanyao]

You see it right here in the news forum, the way the often false, always selective reporting affects peoples psyche, even people who know what the media is about and should know better. People often say something along the lines of "Not Again", when there is a dog attack.

What do you mean not again. If the only dog attacks which ever occurred are the ones which are reported here people should be throwing a party. Unfortunately, the truth is for every dog attack we hear about there is probably 100 others. Instead of perspective, people let all the drama rub off on them.

[mantis]

You see it right here in the news forum, the way the often false, always selective reporting affects peoples psyche, even people who know what the media is about and should know better. People often say something along the lines of "Not Again", when there is a dog attack.

What do you mean not again. If the only dog attacks which ever occurred are the ones which are reported here people should be throwing a party. Unfortunately, the truth is for every dog attack we hear about there is probably 100 others. Instead of perspective, people let all the drama rub off on them.

Yep, the media are only interested in attacks by APBT's, or any dog that looks like one, sells more papers & higher TV ratings, which is why the brainwashed public think they are killing machines on legs.

[Swiss Girl]

I wish there was a similar report in australia, it would be interesting to note if there is similar results. I thought the fact that it was more widely reported if attributed to a 'pit bull type' confirms what so many of you have always said.

I'm glad we have so few chained dogs, that seems to cause so many deaths of toddlers.

[GeckoTree]

I agree swissgirl, Id like to see an Aussie one done.

[mantis]

I wish there was a similar report in australia, it would be interesting to note if there is similar results. I thought the fact that it was more widely reported if attributed to a 'pit bull type' confirms what so many of you have always said.

I'm glad we have so few chained dogs, that seems to cause so many deaths of toddlers.

People never believed me when I told them how I caught the TV stations out over reporting dog attacks, I only wish I had their resources so I could have taped them trying to get me to say it was a Pitbull, or Pitbull cross, instead of a

"insert so called safe breed". Then when I refused to change the breed, they said they weren't interested in the story, as they already had enough content for the news. :nahnah:

Anyone who still doesn't believe me, try it for yourself & if you are able, record what they say.