02, June 2015: A 2014 study by Jama reported victims of dog attacks suffer from an upwards of $1 billion to $2 billion of losses annually in the united states alone, with 42 of these attacks resulting in a fatality.
Research has shown that on average, a dog bite occurs every 75 seconds, which equals to 1,000 victims being rushed to the emergency room for care every day.
Of all the dog attacks in America, the two breeds that attack the most are pit bulls and rottweilers with pit bulls being the predominate breed. In a ten year span of time between 2005 and 2014, pit bulls and rottweiler attacks accounted for 74% of all fatal dog attacks in the nation.
Of the pit bull attacks, the 71% of the fatal attacks occurred in the past ten years, with 42% occurring in the past four years, and 24% occurring in the past two years. In 2014, the two breeds accounted for 74% of the total number of deaths.
Due to the number of fatal dog attacks, a breed specific law was adopted in over 700 American cities in the mid 1980s. Studies show 40% of the reported fatal attacks in 2014 were by loose dogs not on their owner’s property. 38% of fatal attacks in 2013 were victims who were visiting or temporarily living with the dogs who attacked them.
27,000 people in 2012 were reported to have undergone reconstructive surgery due to being attacked by dogs. In 2011, close to half the deaths by pit bulls were the dog’s owner or primary caretaker.
Research done on an annual basis shows that females are attacked by dogs more than males. Of the fatal attacks, 88% of the victims are children six years and under.
Of the fatal attacks in 2014, 57% were victims attacked by a pack of dogs and 19% of the fatal attacks were victims attacked by four or more dogs.
It is thought that by 2017 pit bulls will fatally maul 305 American citizens, which is a huge rise from the CDC abandoning their tracking of the breed in 1998.
There are over 40 countries who regulate specific dog breeds with dangerous dog breed laws. Of the 40 countries, Norway, France, Portugal, Spain and Great Britain are just a few.
As a result of these figures, a new educational website www.petpalsdogtraining.com has been launched to help combat canine behavior issues and provide useful dog training information, tutorials and videos in the hope to decrease the number of fatal dog attacks.
