It is true that the most common victim of dog bites is a child. That's a fact. But who thinks about the mental health issues of that dog that had to bite a person to stay safe? Anyway, with this new perspective, I decided to post this article here and see if you have anything to add or an opinion to share about it.
After reading this article, please click over to my Squidoo lense about dog aggression and read the article there that I wrote entitled, "Dog Bites -- The Ultimate in Dog Aggression". Leave me a comment there or come back here and tell me what you think.
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This isn't really news to me, but Fido needs to be supervised around young children, according to a new study.
The study, done by Vikram Durairaj of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, found that dogs usually target a child's face and eyes and most often it's a breed considered "good" with children, like a Labrador Retriever.
"People tend to think the family dog is harmless, but it's not," said Durairaj, associate professor of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. "We have seen facial fractures around the eye, eye lids torn off, injury to the tear drainage system and the eyeball itself."
The study says the likelihood of a child getting bitten in their lifetime is around 50 % with 80 % of those bites involving the head and neck. If a dog bites once, it's likely to bite again with the second attack often more brutal than the first.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year and 885,000 require medical attention. The total cost is estimated at up to $250 million.
The study looked at 537 children treated for facial dog bites at The Children's Hospital on the University of Colorado's...[read more]
