FACTS
- Any dog can bite: big or small, male or female, young or old. Even the cuddliest, fuzziest, sweetest pet can bite if provoked. Remember, it is not a dog’s breed that determines whether it will bite, but rather the dog’s individual history and behavior.
- Most dog bites need immediate medical care and emergency treatment. Most of the bite victims are children. The majority of human victims get mauled or bitten on their faces.
- Forbes researched the topic and found that there are significant differences by breed. Dog breeds generally considered aggressive, such as the Pit Bull and the Rottweiler, were top among the risk of severe injury or even death.
- CDC study found Pit Bull was more likely to bite than other breeds. In this case, the breed was responsible for 60 highlighted incidents.
- The second was the Rottweiler with 29 and the German Shepherd with 19. Pit Bulls make up just 6.5% of all dogs in the United States. However, the breed is responsible for 66% of all dog bite fatalities.
- On Forbes lists of most fatalities caused by dog breeds:
- Pitbull: 284
- Rottweiler: 45
- German Shepherd: 20
- Mixed-breed: 17
- American bulldog: 15
- Mastiff or Bullmastiff: 14
- Husky: 13
- Labrador Retriever: 9
- Boxer: 7
- Doberman Pinscher: 6
STATS
- Dog bites result in approximately 44,000 facial injuries each year. Children are 60% of all dog bite victims. In children less than ten years of age, severe injuries occur almost exclusively.
- The most frequent target is the face (77% of all casualties). 97% of attacks to mail carriers happen to lower extremities like the legs or feet. The average stay of severely injured patients is 4.2 days. Eighteen deaths a year are caused by dog bites.
- According to the CDC dog bite injury statistics, someone in the United States must get medical attention for a dog bite every 40 seconds. At least 800,000 people receive dog or pet bites yearly in the U.S.
- 43 percent of people hospitalized for dog bites required treatment for skin and underlying tissue infection; 22 percent had wounds of the legs or arms; 10.5 percent had wounds of the head, neck and torso; and the remaining patients had problems ranging from bone fracture to blood poisoning.
- 81% of dog bites cause no injury at all or only minor injuries that do not require medical attention.
- You have a 1 in 112,400 chance of dying from a dog bite or strike.