DO DANGEROUS BREEDS EXIST?

Only in the USA there are 1 to 3.5 million emergency consultations about mammal bites, 80% of them by dogs, 6% by cats, 3% by humans and 11 % by other animals.

From these consultations 10% of them need suture (100.000 to 350.000) and 1 to 2% of them ( 10.000 to 70.000) come into the hospital due to infections or serious injuries.

Due to the lack of statistics in our city, we did research on the consultations for dog bites at the Hospital Infantil Municipal de Córdoba Capital emergency room during 3 years ( 1998 to 2000).

The injuries were classified into 3 categories:

There were 585 consultations about accidents with dogs in the period of 3 years. They are classified in the following way:

The following are the breeds classified in a frequency order according to the different types of injures:

The following is a model of the form that people had to fill in at the Hospital when a dog bite accident happened:

From the 585 accidents that took place, in 44% of the cases they told us that the animal had attacked in other occasions.

In 56% of the cases the animal was the pet family.

In 34% of the cases the accident happened when the animal was eating.

The 28% of the injured people attribute the accident to a jealous behaviour of the animal due to a new family member.

In 95% of the moderate and serious injuries the animal weighed more than 66 lbs. and in 85% of the minor injuries the animals weighed less than 66 lbs.

In the year 2001 we dealt with an area of the city population and we carried out a home opinion poll to determine the dog population and its distribution by breeds; also, the results were compared with the dog bites accidents that took place in the mentioned area 

The results were:

1,000 homes were polled and there were 756 dogs in all, 37% of them were mongrels, 22% were dogs of small breeds, 12% German Shepherds, 7 % Pit Bulls, 6% Rott Weilers, 5% Dogos Argentino, 3% Dobermans, 3% Siberians and 5% other breeds.

CONCLUSIONS:

Among the accidents during the paediatrics age the one caused by animals have more and more relevance everyday due to the increase of their implication and due to the growing tendency to have pets in the big cities.

The fact that there is a lack of national data limits the decision taking. Nonetheless, prevention and “Pets” must be taken into account in the daily paediatrician consultation.

It is urgent to demystify that dangerous breeds exist, because media has been in charge of the destruction of specific breeds and this gives wrong information to the population where the majority believe that they can keep calm if they do not possess any of these breeds.

On the other hand, it is true that any animal heavier than 66 lbs. is more dangerous than a smaller one when it attacks. Among them, the hunting breeds provoke more harm in their bites, but according to the information obtained, there is no statistically significant difference among breeds; moreover, those breeds considered to be inoffensive have provoked serious injuries. 

That is why prevention should not be based on prohibition but on education, because if they prohibit they will have to generalize all the breed dogs and mongrels.

What is noticeable is the high percentage that shows that the animal had attacked previously. That is why doctors and expert breeders must be categorical because when a domestic pet attacks a member of the family it must be put aside from home. This should not be taken as an act of cruelty but as prevention.

Pet sellers and future owners have the obligation and responsibility for setting some basic rules.

From the collected information it is noticeable the importance of the animal feeding and its environment. Besides, its education since it is a puppy is vital, as well as the handling of the situation with a new family member.

The latest research on animal behaviour seems to determine that dogs recognize their owners or family members firstly by their sight, secondly by their hearing and lastly by their smell. That could explain much of the accidents that happened at home, but this is still under research.
Dentro de los accidentes en la edad pediátrica, los producidos por animales, tienen cada día más relevancia, por el aumento en su incidencia, y por el aumento creciente en las grandes ciudades de tener mascotas.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC QUOTATIONS:

Brook I: Microbiology of human and animal bite wounds in children. Pediatr Infect Dis J 6:29, 1987

Feder HM, Shanley JD, Barbera JA: Review of 59 patients hospitalized with animal bites. Pediatr Infect Dis J 6:24, 1987

Gershman K, Sacks J, Wright J: Which dogs bite? A case-control study of risk factors. Pediatrics. 93:913, 1987

Paisley JW, Lauer BA: Severe facial injuries to infants due to unprovoked attacks by per ferrets. JAMA 259:20005, 1988

Trott A: Care of mammalian bites. Pediatr Infect Dis J 6:8, 1987