Posts tagged "dog bites"

In May Ohio legislators passed House Bill 14, which stripped the automatic "dangerous dog" label from pit bulls and pit bull mixes. The new law was good news for owners of the breed, who no longer have to keep their dogs on chain-linked leashes or muzzle them when taking them off their own property. It also meant fewer euthanizations at animal shelters, which weren't able to adopt out the dogs as easily as other breeds.

But the new law doesn't signal the end of dog bites, by pit bulls or any other breed. Child injuries can still result from a dog attack or a single bite, and they can be devastating experiences. But a good first step to prevention is educating your children on how to behave around a dog, especially one they don't know.

The tragic death of a 3-day-old infant was reported last week, just days before a related Ohio law was set to go into effect. The timing of the child's death could cause some to question whether House Bill 14, which removed any specific references to pit bulls in the state's existing "vicious dog" law, was premature.

The baby had just been placed in a swing at her grandmother's house near Lima, Ohio, while her mother prepared to feed her. The girl's mother and grandmother were just a few feet away in the kitchen when the family pit bull attacked the newborn. They rushed her to a nearby hospital; she was then flown to a hospital in Toledo, where she died late that night. The dog was taken into custody by the Allen County, Ohio, dog warden, who couldn't immediately say whether the dog was a purebred pit bull, but said the 4-year-old male was at least a pit bull mix.

Dog bites are one of the many different causes of child injuries. Some dog breeds have a worse reputation than others, to the point that some are labeled as "vicious" regardless of an individual dog's history and training. But a bill passed by the Ohio Senate this week may level the playing field.

Under current law, pit bulls are the only dogs that are immediately classified as vicious, thanks to a law passed in 1987 but weakened in 2004 by a state Supreme Court ruling. The high court found that the law failed to provide due process -- that is, the right to a hearing -- for other dog owners, which often discouraged animal control officers from issuing a citation for a first infraction. According to the director of the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center (who was part of a group involved in rewriting the bill), with the exception of pit bulls, "your dog had one free bite."

Many people consider dogs to be mankind's best friend, and many people consider their dogs to be members of their families. However, dog bites take a tremendous toll on Ohio residents every year and recent studies have shown that children are very vulnerable to dog bite injuries.

Each year, about five million people suffer a dog bite. About 60 percent of dog bites victims are children 11 years of age or younger. In 2010 alone, 33 people across the country were killed in dog bite incidents. Twenty of those killed were children. In recognition of the dangers of dog bites and dog attacks, May 15 through May 21 is National Dog Bite Prevention week.

The number of dog bites that result in hospital care has almost doubled in the past 18 years.

In 1993, 5,100 people sought medical care after suffering from a dog bite. According to a report conducted by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, that number had increased to 9,500 in 2008. That averages out to over 850 individuals seeking treatment for dog bite injuries every day. Approximately 40 percent of the dog bite incidents reported involved injuries to children.

The average hospital costs for a patient receiving treatment for a dog bite injury was $18,200. This is twice the cost for other injury-related hospital stays.