Dog Bite Statistics

There is a dog bite epidemic in the United States and other countries such as Canada. Although complete statistics are not in from Canada, here is the data for the United States.

In a 10-year period, the number of dogs in the USA rose by 2% while the number of bites increased by 37%. There are almost 5 million victims in the USA annually -- about 2% of the entire population. 800,000 need medical attention. 1,000 per day need treatment in hospital emergency rooms. Between 15 and 20 people die per year. Most of the victims are children, almost always bitten in the face by the family dog or a friend's dog.

Again, most of the victims are children. 61% take place right in the child’s home or a familiar place, such as a friend’s home. 77% of the bites are from dogs belonging to the family or a friend of the family. Makes a person stop and think, doesn’t it? Especially about owning that large, known to be aggressive breed? Especially one that is not properly trained and handled?

And the worst ones for injuring people and children are: The ones belonging to Owners that say, "Oh my dog is wonderful, he/she would never hurt a fly". "Our dog loves the kids so we don’t have to Obedience Train it or learn how to properly control it or teach the kids how to behave around a large, aggressive breed". "Oh, we have had our dog since a puppy, he/she isn’t like those other dogs that hurt people".

And my favorite: "The dogs that injure or attack people or children all belong to mean owners that don’t love them or make them aggressive on purpose". WRONG!!! They belong to normal, everyday people who have no business owning these aggressive breeds because they don’t have any clue how to train or properly handle them. Dogs that simply need more than hugs and kisses.