Dog attack

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

Dog bite redirects here. For the song, see Dog Bite (song).

Dog attacks are attacks on humans by feral or domestic dogs. Dog attacks often occur because of the close proximity of dogs to people, and such attacks have become the focus of increasing media and public attention in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.^[1] It is estimated that two percent of the US population, 4.7 million people, are bitten each year.^[2]In the 1980s and 1990s the US averaged 17 fatalities per year, while in the 2000s this has increased to 26.^[3] 77% of dog bites are from the pet of family or friends, and 50% of attacks occur on the dog owner's property.^[3]

There is much debate over whether the attacks can be blamed on the prevalence of certain breeds of dogs or whether they are due primarily to the actions or inactions of the dogs' owners.

Contents 1 Human-dog interaction 2 Factors related to attack incidents 2.1 Human behavior 2.2 Dog behavior 2.3 Training and aggression 2.4 Unsupervised Children 3 Breed-specific attacks 4 Legal issues 4.1 United States 5 See also 6 References 7 Footnotes 8 External links

[edit] Human-dog interaction

Dogs, like wolves, remain cunning, swift, agile, strong, territorial, and voracious despite domestication; even small ones have large, sharp teeth and claws and powerful muscles in their jaws and legs, and can inflict serious injuries. The lacerations even from inadvertent dog scratches, let alone deliberate or reckless bites, are easily infected (most commonly by Capnocytophaga ochracea or Pasteurella multocida). Large dogs can knock people down with the usual effects of falls from other causes. To be sure, dogs are far more reliable than other predators of like size (for example, leopards and cougars smaller than some breeds of dogs) and most larger herbivores.^{[citation needed]}

Should affection or mutual respect not exist (as with feral dogs), should a dog be conditioned to become an attacker, or should someone intrude upon a dog's territory and pose a threat, then the natural tendencies of a predator manifest themselves in a dog attack in which the dog uses its predatory abilities to defend itself. Extrication from such an attack is difficult because of the dog's power and agility.

Education for adults and children, animal training, selective breeding for temperament, and society's intolerance for dangerous animals combine to reduce the incidence of attacks and accidents involving humans and dogs. However, improperly managed confrontations can lead to severe injury from even the most well-tempered dog.

Stiffened front legs and a raised ridge of hair along the spine are signs of an imminent attack. A wagging tail indicates an attempt to communicate excitement, but a territorial dog may hold its tail high and wag its tail as a signal of dominance. Because of poor night vision humans might not recognize these as they might recognize snarling or growling from dogs not trained to attack. In darkness (whether at night or in darkened buildings), an easily-alerted dog has every advantage in a confrontation, its hearing and scent far stronger than the corresponding senses in humans under any circumstances and far-superior night vision.

[edit] Factors related to attack incidents

[edit] Human behavior

Many human behaviors (especially by people unfamiliar with dogs) may factor into bite situations. The majority of dogs won't respond to all or even any of these behaviors with aggression, however, some will. These behaviors include:

• Challenging for food or water. For example, removing food from a dog, or appearing to intervene between a dog and its food. Even when inadvertent, this may trigger aggressive behavior in some animals.

• Attacking (or perceived attacking) a dog or its companions, or encroaching on its territory. Dogs are pack animals; they often have an instinct to defend themselves and those they consider their "pack" (which could be other dogs, humans, or even other animals), and to defend their territory, which may include areas they consider "theirs" or belonging to their family.

Note that attacks may be triggered by behaviors that are perceived as an attack, for example, a sudden unexpected approach or touch by a stranger, or inadvertently stepping on any portion of the dog's anatomy, such as a paw or tail, or startling a sleeping dog unexpectedly. In particular, the territory that a dog recognizes as its own may not coincide with the property lines that its owner and the legal authorities recognize, such as a portion of a neighbor's backyard.

• Sickness or injury. A sick or injured dog, or an older animal, like people, may become "cranky" or over-reactive, and may develop a tendency to become "snappish".

• Failure to recognize insecurity or fear. Like humans, dogs that feel insecure may ultimately turn and defend themselves against perceived threat. It is common for people to not recognize signs of fear or insecurity, and to approach, triggering a defensive reaction.

• Intervention when dogs fight. When dogs fight, a human stepping in between, or seeking to restrain one of them without due care, may be badly bitten as well.

• Threatening body language. Especially including direct staring (an act of dominance or aggression) or a person not known to the dog moving their face very close to the animal's own snout (may be perceived as a challenge, threatening, or imposing). Staring is more dangerous when on the same visual level as the dog (such as small children), or when the human is unfamiliar.

• Prey behaviors. Dogs retain many of their predatory instincts, including the chasing of prey. Running away from a dog or behaving in a manner suggesting weakness, may trigger predatory behaviors such as chasing or excited attack. For example, the instinct to jerk one's hands upwards away from an inquisitive dog may elicit a strong impulse to grab and hold.

• Ignoring warning signs. Trained attack dogs may act against an intruder without warning.

[edit] Dog behavior

Many adoption agencies test for aggressive behavior in dogs, and euthanize an animal that shows certain types of aggression. Alternatively, aggression can often be addressed with appropriate corrective training. Sources of aggression include:

• Dominance. Dogs as pack animals will often seek to dominate others in their pack or family (acquire more status and authority) if they feel they are able. A dog that seeks to dominate may use aggression as a means to elevate its perceived power and authority, or to make others respect its wishes and not challenge it. Pet owners are generally encouraged to not allow a dog to become overly dominant due to the aggressive behavior that may result.

Dominance may include "pushy" behavior, refusal to show respect or obedience to humans, attempted "ownership" of high status locations such as beds, sofas, or doorways, and in general, any type of behavior the animal sees as furthering a dominant social role.

• Fear and self-defense. Like humans, dogs react when fearful, and may feel driven to attack out of self defense, even when not in fact being "attacked". Speed of movement, noises, objects or specific gestures such as raising an arm or standing up may elicit a reaction. Many rescued dogs have been abused, and in some dogs, specific fears of men, women, skin coloring, and other features that recall past abusers, are not uncommon. A dog that feels cornered or without recourse may as a last option, attack the human who is threatening or attacking it. A dog may also perceive a hand reached out toward its head as an attempt to gain control of the dog's neck via the collar, which if done to a wary dog by a stranger can easily provoke a bite.

• Territoriality and possessions. See above. Aggressive possessiveness is considered a very important type of aggression to test for, since it is most associated with bites, especially bites to children.^{[citation needed]}

• Predatory instincts. In isolation, predatory behaviors are rarely the cause of an attack on a human, although with large dogs or very small children this may sometimes occur.^{[citation needed]} Predatory aggression is more commonly involved as a contributing factor for example in attacks by multiple dogs; a "pack kill instinct" may arise if multiple dogs are involved in an attack.^{[citation needed]}

• Pain or sickness. See above. As with fear, pain can incite a dog to attack. The canonical example of sickness-induced attack is the virulent behavior caused by rabies.

• Redirected aggression. A dog that is already excited/aroused by an aggressive instinct from one source, uses an available target to release its aggression.

[edit] Training and aggression

In a domestic situation, canine aggression is normally suppressed. Exceptions are if the dog is trained to attack, feels threatened, or is provoked. It is important to remember that dogs are predators by nature, instinct is something that never completely disappears, and that predatory behavior against other animals (such as chasing other animals) may train a dog or a pack of dogs to attack humans. It is possible to acclimatize a dog to common human situations in order to avoid adverse reactions by a pet. Dog experts advocate removal of a dog's food, startling a dog, and performing sudden movements in a controlled setting to teach the dog who its leader is, to defuse aggressive impulses in common situations. This also allows better animal care since owners may now remove an article directly from a dog's mouth or transport a wounded pet to seek medical attention.

Small children are especially prone to being misunderstood by dogs, in part because their size and movements can be similar to prey. Also, young children may unintentionally provoke a dog (pulling on ears or tails is common, as is surprising a sleeping dog) because of their inexperience. Because of a dog's pack instincts, more dominant dogs may view children or even complacent adults as rivals rather than as superiors, and attempt to establish dominance by physical means. Any attempt at dominant behavior, no matter how tentative, should be firmly discouraged as soon as possible, to affirm to the dog that all humans are pack superiors. To avoid potential conflicts, even reliably well-behaved children and dogs should not be allowed to interact in the absence of adult supervision.

Dogs with strong chase instincts, especially shepherds, may fail to recognize a person as a being not to be herded. They may fixate on a specific aspect of the person, such as a fast-moving, brightly colored shoe, as a prey object. This is probably the cause for the majority of non-aggressive dogs chasing cyclists and runners. In these cases, if the individual stops, the dog often loses interest since the movement has stopped. This is not always the case, and aggressive or territorial dogs might take the opportunity to attack.

Additionally, most dogs who bark aggressively at strangers, particularly when not on "their" territory, will flee if the stranger challenges it. Conversely, there is always the danger of the occasional dog who will stand its ground and escalate the situation. Mailmen, being the classic example, provoke a strong territorial response because they come back day after day to the dog's territory. In the dog's mind they are constantly challenging them for territory and that sets up a learned behavior.

[edit] Unsupervised Children

This is arguably the most critical factor in fatal dog attacks on children. There are a number of reasons why unsupervised children are especially vulnerable to a fatal dog attack:

• Dogs are much less likely to attack a child in the presence of an adult, particularly in the presence of the owner.
• In the event that a dog does attack a child in the presence of an adult, the intervention of the adult often prevents the attack from becoming a fatality.
• Children, because of their small size, are usually not able to sustain an attack until help arrives. Many adults survived severe dog attacks simply by virtue of the fact that they were able to sustain and fend the dogs off to some degree until assistance arrived.
• Children often engage in dangerous behavior (approaching too close to a chained dog or trying to hug/kiss an unfamiliar animal) that a supervising adult would have prevented.

The age group with the second-highest amount of fatalities due to a dog attack are 2-year-old children. Over 88% of these fatalities occurred when the 2-year-old child was left unsupervised with a dog(s) or the child wandered off to the location of the dog.^[4]

[edit] Breed-specific attacks

Dog attacks on humans that appear most often in the news are those that require the hospitalization of the victim or those in which the victim is killed. Dogs of all sizes have mauled and killed humans, although large dogs are capable of inflicting more damage quickly.

When dogs are near humans with whom they are familiar, they normally become less aggressive. This is because familiarity with their 'pack members' lowers the likelihood of attack. However, it should not be assumed that because a dog has been with humans, it will not attack anybody - even a family member. Caution needs to be taken when approaching new dogs for the first time. Intact males also bite more frequently than females or neutered males.^[5]

There are studies that claim certain breeds are more likely to attack than others. A study by Merritt Clifton, which analyzed serious attacks in the U.S. and Canada between 1982 and 2006, determined that Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios, and their mixes were responsible for 74% of attacks studied and 65% of fatalities.^[6][7] Another study indicates that pit bulls and their mixes were involved in approximately one third of the reported human dog bite-related fatalities between 1981 and 1992, while Rottweilers were responsible for about half of those fatalities reported between 1993 and 1996. ^[7]

Due to the pit bull-type breeds' perceived aggression, owning such an animal is not allowed in many European and Australasian countries and in several US and Canadian localities (see Pit bull#Bans). Owners are usually fined and in some places there may be 2 month jail time, while the animals are destroyed in most cases.^{[citation needed]}

It is sometimes argued that certain breeds are inherently aggressive towards humans and shouldn't be allowed at all, or that, due to the popularity of certain potentially dangerous breeds, these dogs are often owned by irresponsible owners who provide insufficient training or, worse, aggressiveness training. An opposing argument is that no breed is inherently aggressive towards humans and that regulating one breed simply moves the irresponsible owners to start focusing on breeds that haven't yet been regulated, moving the problem to other breeds. This is one of the positions taken by the American Veterinary Medical Association.^[8]

It is difficult to establish the inherent human aggressiveness of a breed in general. To establish meaningful results, research would have to consider such factors as the following:

• Are the statistics available reliable for identifying specific breeds? In cases of bites from unfamiliar animals such as strays, the breed description can be inaccurate.
• What proportion of a breed's owners are knowledgeable about dog training? When a breed's popularity increases, it might be more likely to be the first choice among owners with no previous experience with dogs because it is a breed which they've heard of. Novice owners might not know how to properly socialize a dog.
• What proportion of owners deliberately encourage aggression in their dogs, or keep their dogs in a manner which fosters aggressive traits? This would be a difficult number to discover, because it seems likely that not many owners would readily admit to it. Also even though it may not be intended to train a dog to be aggressive, it is well documented that many dog owners do inadvertently allow a dog to think of itself as dominant.
• What proportion of dogs involved in acts of aggression against humans came from a known mother or father who exhibited such aggression? This can happen in any breed, and responsible breeders would generally not breed such a dog. However, as a breed's popularity increases, people who know nothing about breeding or genetics (or who don't care), might breed dogs who otherwise shouldn't be bred.
• What proportion of that breed in the community exhibits aggression against humans? Most statistics published show only the number of dogs of various breeds involved in attacks, not the percentage of dogs of that breed in the area who were involved in attacks. Any popular breed is more likely to show up with more attacks because there are simply more dogs, just as a less popular breed will show up as having a higher percentage of attacks because there are simply fewer dogs. The most popular dog breed in America (in 2007) is the Labrador Retriever.

One approach which acknowledges that it is difficult to determine the dangerousness of a specific breed takes the strategy of regulating all dogs over a certain size or weight, which would greatly reduce the chance of a dog being large enough to inflict serious harm. This, of course, would remove from circulation most of the hundreds of breeds available in the world today, most of which would never deliberately harm a human.

Although research and analysis^[1] suggests that breed-specific legislation is not completely effective in preventing dog attacks, with each new attack, pressure mounts to enact such legislation, despite indications^[2] that dangerous dog legislation would be more effective—that is, focusing on specific individual dogs having exhibited signs of aggression.

[edit] Legal issues

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page.

[edit] United States

Although using a firearm against an attacking dog may seem acceptable, laws in the United States which prohibit discharging a firearm in a city, and reckless endangerment may limit the extent to which a person is legally able to defend themselves in this way.^{[citation needed]} Taking such actions where the dog/dogs involved were not acting aggressively towards humans may result in legal charges against the person who shot the animal. No person in the United States has ever been convicted of a crime for firing a gun or using any other weapon to stop or kill a dog that was currently attacking him/her. ^[9]

Some state laws hold dog owners liable for the harm or damage that their animal causes to people or other dogs. For example, in recent years, Florida dog bite laws have been changed so that prior vicious tendencies may no longer be needed to prove owner liability.^[3] In Texas, as of September 1, 2007, `Lillian's Law' has taken effect, whereby the owner of a dog that causes death or serious bodily injury may be charged with a second or third degree felony when the attack takes place outside the dog's normal place of confinement (Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 882).

In California, owners are subject to massive civil liability for attacks by their dogs. The state allows a victim to sue on two strict liability causes of action arising out of a single attack—one created by statute and one arising from common law.^[10] In 1989, the California State Legislature enacted a special administrative hearing procedure just for regulating "menacing dogs," based on the finding that "dangerous and vicious dogs have become a serious and widespread threat to the safety and welfare of citizens of this state."^[11]To help implement it, the Judicial Council of California promulgated a package of four forms in 1990.^[12] The notice of hearing bears the warning: "DO NOT BRING THE DOG TO THE HEARING."^[13]

[edit] See also

• Wolf attacks on humans

[edit] References

• NCIPC bibliography of articles on dog bites
• ^ Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998, Jeffrey J. Sacks, MD, MPH; Leslie Sinclair, DVM; Julie Gilchrist, MD; Gail C. Golab, PhD, DVM; Randall Lockwood, PhD. JAVMA, Vol 217, No. 6, September 15, 2000.
• ^ World Almanac and Book of Facts 1985. Doubleday.
• ^ World Almanac and Book of Facts 1988. World Almanac Books.
• ^ Breed-Specific Legislation in the United States. Linda S. Weiss, Michigan State University - Detroit College of Law (2001). Animal Legal and Historical Web Center
• ^ "Nonfatal Dog Bite--Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments", CDC MMWR, July 4, 2003.
• ^ Dog Owner Liability, Legal Center For The Injured (2007)
• Rover's Law - Megan's Law for Bad Dogs
• Dogs Bite but Balloons and Slippers are More Dangerous by Janis Bradley, 2005
• Dog Aggressive Behaviors

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Why Dogs Bite People
• Safety Around Dogs
• After the Injury- Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia