Dog Bites

[KathrynH]

Dog-bite survey finds few canines that attack
Animal-safety coalition says many bites are preventable
By Kieran Nicholson
The Denver Post
Posted: 02/27/2009 12:30:00 AM MST
Updated: 02/27/2009 12:37:38 AM MST


Dog bites happen, but they don't happen often, and many bites are preventable.

That message, delivered Thursday at a forum in Denver, was gleaned from data taken in Colorado over a year-long period.

The Coalition for Living Safely With Dogs, made up of Colorado veterinarians, animal-control officers, animal-care professionals and others presented the data at the group's second annual forum.

"The data shows that any dog can bite but most don't," said Nick Fisher, a coalition member.

The dog-bite surveys were taken from July 2007 to July 2008 and covered 17 "districts" in Colorado, including the Denver area; El Paso and Weld counties; and some Western Slope counties.

Beth Mulligan of Corona Research, who helped with the survey and data collection, told the forum that there are about 1.4 million dogs in Colorado and about 700,000 in the study area.

The coalition study tallied 2,060 bites. That's about 1 bite for every 350 dogs, less than one-third of one percent, Mulligan said.

"Very few dogs are involved in biting incidents," she said.

Coalition members hope to use the data as an educational tool, making the public more aware of circumstances around dog bites so measures can be taken to reduce the numbers.

Of the 2,060 bites, Labrador retrievers made up the biggest percentage on the bite list.

Labs accounted for 13.3 percent of the reported bites; pit bulls, 8.4 percent; German shepherds, 7.8 percent; Rottweilers, 3.9 percent; and Chows, 3.5 percent.

That does not mean that Labrador retrievers bite more often than other breeds, the experts said. To try to determine which breed bites the most, there would have to be a dog census, accumulating total numbers of each breed, and then a breakdown to compare breeds. Those numbers are not available.

The survey found 13 "maulings" by dogs.

Fisher said the maulings were by a variety of breeds, including two by pit bulls, two Rottweilers, a Labrador retriever and a hound dog, among others.

At least one dog breed, or breed mix, has found its way onto a list of municipal bans in Colorado — the pit bull. Among cities banning pit bulls in Colorado are Denver, Aurora, Commerce City, Castle Rock and Louisville.

The coalition does not support breed bans, according to literature distributed at the forum: "Effective enforcement of laws based on the behavior of dogs and their owners is a better way (than breed bans) to keep the public safe."

Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com

Common dog-bite patterns

When dogs do bite humans, there are patterns, according to the data:

• Dogs running at large are the most common bite circumstance.

• A high number of bites occur when humans intervene between two or more dogs fighting.

• Bites at the dog's home typically occur when the dog is protecting property, food or toys.

[CoraP.]

Good article...very true!

[KathrynH]

I thought it was a good article too, very unbiased. It's nice to here someone defend the animals for a change.

[CoraP.]

Yes, it is! It just makes no sense to ban certain breeds. ANY dog could bite.

[Jeff&Peks]

"Dog-bite survey finds few canines that attack
Animal-safety coalition says many bites are preventable"

How long have I been saying that, they didn't need a survey to figure that one out. There is a reason behind every bite, its called human error.

[vicster605]

And the poor Pit Bull gets the bad rap just about everytime I see anything about dogbites. They should look at the owner and how the Pit was raised BEFORE blaming the breed. Most of the problems with PB's are the owners. They are as sweet as any other breed when raised right and socialized. Fight them and treat them bad.....then they get loose and bite someone GO FIGURE.

[KathrynH]

I thought it was interesting that labs got the highest percentage, although that could be because EVERYONE has them. There always seems to be some sort of protest in Denver concerning the Pit Bull ban, most people are against it.

[CoraP.]

I have always been surprised by the attitude that children just run and jump and do whatever they would like, regardless of the consequences. I was always taught that you don't bother a dog if it is eating or sleeping. It is not the dog's fault, it is the human's for not teaching the correct behaviors.

[Dogdad]

Very interesting, It is mostly common sense on how to behave with dogs

David

[KathrynH]

Funny story related to this. My husband is a UPS driver, and yesterday he was at a hous and two labs came running up to him, and Jake stopped and made sure they were ok with him. They seemed to be, they were wagging their tails and let him pet them and followed him all the way up to the house with no problem. He rang the doorbell, still thinking everything is ok, when all of the sudden one of the labs bit him on the butt! He actually has a bruise, I laughed so hard.

[CoraP.]

Ah, the perils of being a UPS man!

[KathrynH]

yappy dogs are the worst apparently

[CoraP.]

Yes, I've heard that. Some say a little dog is more fear inspiring than a big one!

[KathrynH]

Yeah, the yappy one's always attack him, he's usually able to fend them off, the lab just took him by surprise since it was so nice at first.

[Babs64]

The labs do not suprise me. They are so popular they have been over bred. Around me most of the untrained dogs we encounter are labs and their owners act suprised when you object to be jumped on. Even Sophie who pretty much is submissive has growled at several labs in the area--they just don't have a clue on a polite dog greeting and Sophie is more than willing to correct their behavior.