Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Keeping Kids Safe: Dog Bites and Attacks
Dog attacks and dog bites are a devastating reality for many families.
Most often, when dogs attack, they bite the face, causing infection, trauma and scarring.
Suffering Dog Bite Injuries
Dog bite wounds can be classified as:
- cuts,
- lacerations,
- abrasions,
- crushing wounds, or
- puncture wounds.
Dog bites can often result in fractured bones and/or disfiguring scars. Frequently surgical repair is needed, and eyesight or hearing is sometimes damaged permanently.
Often there is also emotional and psychological trauma associated with dog bites and attacks to both the victim and the person witnessing such an attack.
Dog Bite Statistics
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Veterinary Medical Association:
- Every 40 seconds someone in the United States seeks medical attention for a dog bite-related injury.
- Dog attacks cause 4.5 million injuries annually, 800,000 of which require medical attention.
- At least 25 different breeds of dogs have been involved in the 238 dog bite-related fatalities in the United States.
- Pit bulls and Rottweilers account for over half of these deaths.
- 24% of human deaths involve unrestrained dogs off of their owners’ property.
These statistics do not cover all the specifics of children and their interactions with dogs.
Dogs can be especially dangerous to children!
Parents should be aware that:
- Children under 15 years of age are the most common victims, making up approximately 70% of all dog bite victims.
- Dog bites are a greater health problem for children than measles, mumps, and whooping cough combined.
- Young boys between the ages of five and nine are the most frequent victims.
Tips to Avoid Dog Bites
- Never approach a dog you don’t know or a dog that is alone without its owner, especially if the dog is behind a fence, tied with a rope or chain, or in a parked car.
- Never approach a dog that is eating, sleeping, or guarding something. Dogs naturally guard their babies, food, bones, and toys.
- Never chase or tease dogs. Don’t poke, hit, pull, or pinch a dog.
- Never approach a dog (or any animal) that is injured.
- Always ask the owner’s permission before petting a dog.
- NEVER leave a baby or small child alone with a dog.
- Do not run away. Dogs have a natural instinct to chase and catch things.
- Do not make eye contact with the dog.
- Stand very still like a statue with your arms at your sides, or back away slowly and quietly.
- In a loud, commanding voice, tell the dog to “go away.”
- If you are attacked, give the dog an object, such as a jacket or backpack to bite or chew on.
- Curl into a ball.
- Protect your face by covering your head and neck.
- Put your hands over your ears.
An unsupervised child is possibly 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.
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 is 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.
Massachusetts has one of the best laws for the protection of dog bite victims, especially young children.
Contact a Boston child injury lawyer at Kiley Law Group if your child has suffered any serious injury from a dog bite or dog attack.
Call 1-888-208-1695 for a FREE Consultation.
