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Tips to remember during Dog Bite Prevention Week
By David S. Greene
May 20, 2010
This is National Dog Bite Prevention Week, which means now’s a good time to review safety around dogs, because even normally friendly dogs can and do bite in certain circumstances.
Our friends at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine have some helpful words of wisdom from veterinary behaviorist Dr. Melissa Bain, but my favorite item comes from Lili Chin of Doggie Drawings and shared on the Dog Milk blog. It’s a fantastic graphic presentation of how not to greet a dog. Finally here ‘s more information from the AVMA. Quick quiz: Which groups are the most frequent victims of dog bites? Answers below.
Franck’s calls it quits on compounding: You may remember the case of Franck’s Pharmacy of Ocala, Fla, the company that made a horrific mistake in mixing a product, resulting in the collapse and death of polo ponies before a stunned onlookers. Last week, the Indiana Board of Pharmacy revoked Franck’s pharmacy license in that state, even as the FDA continued to hound the company. Finally, this week Franck’s voluntarily suspended its compounding business. From the Ocala Star-Banner:
All reference to veterinary compounding — which, according to the government’s petition, accounts for a little less than half of Franck’s approximately $8 million in annual gross sales — has now been removed from Franck’s website.
In comments to the Star-Banner earlier Monday, company president Paul W. Franck said he wants to “cooperate” with the FDA.
“We’re trying to resolve this whole chemical issue when dealing with animals,” he said. “What we’re doing is perfectly legal, but the FDA needs to give us guidance.”
California bill to bar landlord-mandated devocalization/declawing: We’ve written before about declawing and devocalizing (the latter also known as debarking), and the latest round in the debate comes from California. The state Assembly there has passed a bill that, if ultimately signed into law, will prevent owners of rental property from requiring applicants to declaw or debark pets. From the L.A. Times:
“Declawing and devocalization are permanent, complex surgeries that can have unintended consequences for property managers, physical complications for animals, and emotional and financial consequences for pet owners,” said the bill’s author, Assemblyman Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara), in a statement.
AB 2743 also would forbid landlords from giving preferential treatment to tenants with declawed or devocalized animals and from advertising in a way designed to discourage applicants whose animals have not been declawed or devocalized.
The bill moves to the state Senate next.
That amazing little blue pill: The “ED” medication Viagra was first designed to be used as heart medication — it improves blood flow. Now, in the category of “No, I’m not kdding,” there’s the story of a dog on Long Island who needs Viagra to live:
As the New York Daily News reports, the response was generous … and memorable. One woman gave the shelter all of her husband’s pills because she believed he was using it to cheat on her. She was much happier knowing it would benefit the dog than her husband’s affair.
A man donated an entire month’s supply. When he was asked if he wanted to meet Ingrid and see how it helped her, he said, “Oh, you don’t have to tell me. I know how it works.” Donations poured in from doctors, and in anonymous envelopes with a single pill enclosed. Ingrid was set for awhile.
But that was two years ago. Now, Little Shelter still has Ingrid (who is available for adoption) but her Viagra supply is running low. They’re hoping Viagra users around the country will once again spare a bit of their stash to keep her alive.
Regular readers of our Dr. Becker know that the use of medication such as Viagra and Botox is not really that unusual in pets — most medications veterinarians prescribe are in fact “for humans,” and their use is called “off-label.” Here’s an article Dr. Becker and Gina wrote for Parade magazine on the subject a a few months back, complete with the mention of the Big V. It’s all covered under AMDUCA — the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act.
Still, some of these meds can really stretch the budget. If you want to help Ingrid, you can get in touch with the Little Shelter here. No questions asked.
The cutest UN commission of all time: An Australian artist named Bennett Miller convened a meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Melbourne. His commission was way better than the other one that meets in New York. Mr. Miller calls it the “Dachshund U.N.”.
Miller, a 29-year-old artist from Perth, chose dachshunds for their similarities to humans: “They have their own racial diversity – black, brown, red. Also, even though they’re restricted in their movement, they are quite determined and proud.” He was able to put together his U.N. assembly with the help of the Dachshund Club of Victoria, whose initial skepticism was overcome once Miller was able to demonstrate that he wouldn’t “portray the dogs in a demeaning way.”
I think they look quite distinguished.
No good deed: Frequent blog commenter Lis Carey has a new blog, and if the first posts are any judge, it’s going to be good. Go check it out. I especially like the photos of the dog-friendly DeCordova Sculpture Park, a favorite spot just down the road from me in Lincoln, Mass.
The kerfuffle over Bo: Here at Pet Connection we love Bo, the First Dog. Bo made it back into the news last week when it was disclosed that the President and First Lady’s financial disclosure forms assessed Bo’s value at $1600. The Allie Chronicles weighs in exactly the way I would have on the ensuing back and forth. Read to the very end, and you’ll be sent to a superb blog post from a dear friend of mine….
Quiz answer: The most common dog bite victims are (in order) children, senior citizens and postal carriers.
I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories. Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.
Photo credits: Veterinary students, UC Davis. Dachshund UN, Getty-AP.
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I am so glad you wrote about Dog Bit Prevention Week, David. It is a hot topic and I personally know my hubby (a plastic surgeon) often gets called into ER to fix hands and faces from bites (usually kids,sadly).
One of the situations where a lot of bites occur is in cars. Weird, but the owners are in front seats, and dog in backseat. Then the owners are stopped or the drivers gets out for gas or Walgreen’s or something…and the passenger turns around to ‘talk’ to the dog…and boom- a bite. I guess the dogs do not like the confinement?
Comment by ericka — May 20, 2010 @ 6:02 am
Very upsetting about Franck’s Pharmacy, with 2 CRF elderly cats I have been a very satisfied customer for the last couple of years.
Comment by Elisabeth Carey — May 20, 2010 @ 6:14 am
http://www.DoggoneSafe.com
http://www.doggonesafe.com/
As a licensed presenter for the Be A Tree program, I would suggest taking a look at their many programs to offer. I have the “Be A Tree” teacher kit, which is an interactive seminar for childrenn pre-k top second grade. Ages 5-9 are the most likely to be bitten, so we are focusing on these ages to teach a tookbox full of information on conduct, canine body language, respect, and caution…
take a look, I think you will like what you see.
Comment by Mary — May 20, 2010 @ 6:19 am
http://www.doggonesafe.com/dog_bite_prevention
Comment by Mary — May 20, 2010 @ 6:21 am
Good link, Mary. Thanks.
Comment by David S. Greene — May 20, 2010 @ 6:31 am
Ericka, that’s interesting about the car-bites. I’d never heard that.
I would have guessed that dog/car related bites would be to the hands of dimwits who reach in the window to pet the goggie.
I suspect that dog bites to passengers in the same car are not a huge proportion of bites, but would be disproportionately facial bites that require the services of a plastic surgeon.
When I pick up a passenger in my invariably dog-populated car, they are subject to a rather intrusive assault o’ love — captive victim — OMG he’s strapped in and can’t move — kisses!
But many dogs are car-territorial; if one such is trapped in this small space with a stranger (yes?) who then turns around and goes frontal — eyikes.
Comment by H. Houlahan — May 20, 2010 @ 6:46 am
I am eternally annoyed by parents at dog parks who have never bothered to teach their small children the first thing about the proper way to approach a dog they don’t know. I’ve lost count of the number of times little kids have rushed up to and lunged at Cami and Harry, while the parents just stand there like mute doofuses. I end up having to teach the kids…”ok, bend down, and just put your hand out. No, palm down. Let her sniff your hand. No no, don’t grab, because a dog could bite you if you do that.”
Comment by David S. Greene — May 20, 2010 @ 7:21 am
I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised by the number of kids we meet who ask first if they can pet our dogs or whose parents stop them and tell them to ask first. We reciprocate by asking them to get their parents’ permission. And we always thank them for petting the girls when they’re done.
Comment by Kim Thornton — May 20, 2010 @ 7:58 am
My dogs, like Heather’s, are hard to hold back in a car — you COULD be kissed within an inch of your life! That’s why I also found Ericka’s comment a wowser. But if there’s anyone who knows about dog bites, it’s a surgeon who’s brought in to repair the damage.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 20, 2010 @ 7:59 am
David, thanks! :) Comments welcome at my blog, too.
Comment by Lis — May 20, 2010 @ 8:53 am
Are there dog-bite prevention suggestions directed at senior citizens, if they are the second most often attacked? I suppose with seniors, the circumstances are different than with kids, in many instances - seniors seem less likely to tease a dog or run up to pet Bowser unasked. I surmise part of the problem is that older people are so much more easily injured, and recover more slowly than someone younger. They’re also more likely to be frail and move slowly.
But of course, the dog-bite prevention suggestions for seniors shouldn’t just include the unhelpful (and in most instances impossible) “Don’t go outside alone!” type of suggestion.
As for postal carriers, they’re grown ups, so they again have got past the tease the dog/run up to doggie to pet her type thing (one can hope). And you can’t ask them to not deliver the mail.
Comment by CatPrrson — May 20, 2010 @ 9:27 am
if there’s anyone who knows about dog bites, it’s a surgeon who’s brought in to repair the damage.
Oooh, bad generalization. Now, the following is absolutely not meant to apply to Ericka’s husband, who I have not met, and from whom I learned something new to me today. JME.
The flat-out STUPIDEST pronouncements on dog-bite “prevention” I’ve ever heard have come from surgeons at Children’s Hospital and our other local trauma centers.
Including the entirely serious proposal that all dogs should wear muzzles AT ALL TIMES, and we should be designing muzzles that allow dogs to eat and drink but not bite. And the divine pronouncement that no one “needs” a dog that weighs more than twenty pounds, unless it is golden retriever, cuz thems are awesome, so everything else should be banned.
I have had physically painful cocktail-reception conversations with surgeons about breed predilections, in which Doctor God shows himself incapable of grokking that he could be bringing some media-generated bias to his confusion about why so many of the kids he patches up have been bitten by the “gentle” family Labrador instead of the pit bulls that everyone knows are maneaters. Honestly, I know medical school is about learning a trade, but didn’t these boys ever learn to think in college? Aren’t surgeons supposed to be empiricists to a fault?
Surgeons, especially specialist hot-shot surgeons, barely spend enough time with their patients to learn their names. They are not getting detailed histories about the etiology of the bite, processing that through their profound knowledge of canine behavior, and collating the result into an objective knowledge-set of risk factors.
What they get, generally, in their terse briefing, is the breed of dog that bit the kid, which they then filter into one of two bottles — “I’m shocked, shocked, that a sweet little cocker spaniel could have taken this baby’s lip off — how bizarre!” (Repeat 7 jillion times, be surprised every single time.) or “Rottweiler. Figures. Those things oughtta be banned.”
Comment by H. Houlahan — May 20, 2010 @ 9:49 am
As for postal carriers, they’re grown ups, so they again have got past the tease the dog/run up to doggie to pet her type thing (one can hope). And you can’t ask them to not deliver the mail.
Comment by CatPrrson — May 20, 2010
The mail carrier isn’t doing anything wrong. The circumstances of their work actually and inadvertently teach dogs to bark and bite.
Here’s a decent explanation of how that happens.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 20, 2010 @ 10:51 am
Heather … I was actually thinking about the MD knowledge of bite circumstances that you and I were both unaware of — the assault from the back seat.
Not suggesting that doctors are experts on prevention or on breed types and triggers. Just on cleaning up the aftermath.
In the “doctors aren’t always so bright in other areas” category, I once put a lot of effort into trying to help a man whom I thought enough of to let him remove and re-arrange the contents of my abdomen get his cat to reliably use a litter box. But Dr. Brilliant Surgeon just couldn’t ever accept that the cat wasn’t being “spiteful” for the long hours he worked.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 20, 2010 @ 10:58 am
This is timely … from yesterday’s local news.
Talk about a poorly written headline:
http://www.thepittsburghchanne.....etail.html
I heard a dog trainer speak a few summers ago. He works with police dogs (forgive me for not knowing the proper term). He said of all breeds, based on his personal experience, he was the most wary of Jack Russell Terriers.
I’ve been seriously bitten once, and seriously threatened another time. Both were little white fluffy dogs, 15-20 pounds or so.
Comment by Mary Mary — May 20, 2010 @ 10:58 am
Veterinarians are most wary of chows, studies have shown. The breed tends to be stoic and not particularly communicative, and they tend to give few warning signs as they cross the line from “might bite” to “bite.”
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 20, 2010 @ 11:01 am
“As for postal carriers, they’re grown ups, so they again have got past the tease the dog/run up to doggie to pet her type thing (one can hope). And you can’t ask them to not deliver the mail”
Comment by CatPrrson — May 20, 2010 @ 9:27 am
I can’t speak for my mail carrier, but I do know my retirement-age “free” newspaper delivery guy seems to enjoy standing at my door, and meowing to make the dogs bark.
Maturity and age do NOT go hand-in-hand.
(And yes, I have complained, to both the guy and the company, to no avail. Apparently, teasing dogs is okay. AND - this guy is a dog owner!).
Comment by K.B. — May 20, 2010 @ 11:10 am
Oh good, channel 4 is using “Dogsbite.org” as a source.
Because that woman is SOOOO credible.
Comment by H. Houlahan — May 20, 2010 @ 11:44 am
I think the dogs that are dangerous when you get in their faces are not necessarily the same ones that are dangerous in other circumstances.
Akitas and chows and I get along fine. I don’t get in their faces.
A vet or groomer doesn’t have that option. And yes, they are hard dogs to read — though not unreadable.
Few chows and akitas will go looking for trouble the way a dog with more prey drive and poorer impulse control might.
Comment by H. Houlahan — May 20, 2010 @ 11:48 am
As for postal carriers, … And you can’t ask them to not deliver the mail.
Comment by CatPrrson — May 20, 2010
Actually, there are ways to obtain your mail besides having it delivered to your home, but I have the sense that Cat Prrson may have meant “the post office has to deliver your mail no matter what.”
Should anyone think that’s true, please see the FAQ below from the USPS web site.
****************
What conditions or events may have prevented the delivery of my mail?
Dog on the Premises
Delivery service may be suspended when there is an immediate threat (including, but not limited to, threats due to loose animals) to the delivery employee, mail security, or postal property. The U.S. Postal Service® is charged with the responsibility of providing consistent and reliable mail service. However, as an employer, we are also dedicated to the well-being and safety of our employees. Our records show that 3,184 letter carriers were bitten by dogs in 2006, resulting in unnecessary pain and inconvenience to our employees as well as enormous expense to the Postal Service™. Delivery service may be temporarily withdrawn when animals interfere with our ability to complete mail delivery. Owners must confine their dogs during delivery hours and be notified promptly if service is suspended. Mail delivery will resume as soon as the Postal Service is confident the animal is no longer a menace.
Comment by elaine BHC — May 20, 2010 @ 11:48 am
As for postal carriers, … And you can’t ask them to not deliver the mail.
Comment by CatPrrson — May 20, 2010
Actually, there are ways to obtain your mail besides having it delivered to your home, but I have the sense that Cat Prrson may have meant “the post office has to deliver your mail no matter what.”
Call me crazy, but the way I read it was—the mail carrier is ordinarily not doing anything to “provoke” the dog except deliver the mail, ad it’s counterproductive to tell them “Cut that out, you’re provoking the dog!” You have to deal with it in other ways.
Which, depending on the circumstances, might include getting a post office box.
Comment by Lis — May 20, 2010 @ 3:30 pm
Call me crazy, but the way I read it was—the mail carrier is ordinarily not doing anything to “provoke” the dog except deliver the mail, ad it’s counterproductive to tell them “Cut that out, you’re provoking the dog!” You have to deal with it in other ways.
That’s just what I meant, Lis. K.B’s paper delivery person aside, the average adult knows the basics about not teasing a dog, not going up to pet a strange dog, etc. Dog-bite prevention seems to be slanted heavily towards kids, and teaching kids not to inadvertently (or otherwise!) provoke a bite. I would especially like to see advice for senior citizens who can’t really fend off a large dog (other than the not helpful “don’t walk outside!” variety).
The really awful senior-citizen dog-attack stories seem, from what I’ve read, to involve hinky situations in the first place - irresponsible owners, unsocialized dogs, you know the drill. In some cases the victim has been a dependent adult and the dog belongs to an adult child/niece/nephew - signaling that there are massive multigenerational abuse/addiction type issues in the family that “dog bite prevention” won’t begin to address.
I have/had cats, and the dogs I know well are all well-socialized, loved family pets, and I know better than to go up to a strange dog and start petting it (I always ask!). But my mom is elderly and walks her sheltie every day at the park and I’d love to pass some advice on to her, as I know she’d never provoke an attack, but I doubt she could defend herself if attacked.
Comment by CatPrrson — May 20, 2010 @ 4:58 pm
As far as children at the dog park…racing up, parents unaware of the proper way to teach their children. The Doggone Safe curriculum is designed by canine behaviorists AND early childhood educators to get the message to children at an early age. Not having the curriculum in schools such as the Doggone Safe curriculum I teach is a subject that should be part of the curriculum in all Early Childhood learning centers and elementary schools.
Comment by Mary — May 20, 2010 @ 5:19 pm
It is a pity we do not make prospective animal owners take a test of competency, and an instructional course before they are allowed to own a dog. Then again, most of us would benefit from the very same preparation before raising children- and we don’t make anyone do that either!
One of the saddest complications from the human-canine relationship is the dog-bite. Especially when the victim is a child.
It is estimated (and I am certain that the number errs on the low side given our propensity to forgive the trespasses of man’s best friend) that there are 4.5 million dog bites a year. It appears that 60% of these reported incidents involve children. Of these bites, those requiring medical attention number 800,000. Dog maulings ending in a human death occur about 16 times a year.
Emergency room visits for dog bite victims which require the help of a plastic surgeon- either because of the location of the bite, or the age of the patient, or the severity of the incident are numbered at 30,000 times a year. Unfortunately, this represents an 8% increase from the previous year (the good news is that this number is down 29% from 9 years ago!).
Obviously these statistics do not put dog bites at the same level in frequency or lethality of other diseases or accidents, but it seems that this category of injury carries more impact or pathos than other health risks. Perhaps we identify that many of these incidents are avoidable. Maybe it bothers us that these incidents spoil an otherwise historically positive relationship- that of dog and human. Indeed it should. We are after all responsible for the behavior of our ‘family members’ aren’t we? As a father I am reluctant to blame my children for any of their failings- knowing that their rearing, and not any inherent weaknesses, is exclusively at fault.
To say that these dog bites are all avoidable would be naive. At the same time we need to identify some guidelines, tips, and useful rules to help us protect our children if nothing else, from an inadvertent, negative dog-human interaction. Just like we teach them about electrical sockets, hot pots of water, stairs… and later, driving, firearms, and boys (I haven’t had that talk with my daughter yet, wish me luck…)
Like all good guidelines, we need to use general rules of thumb, avoiding absolute laws where there is no reason, and avoiding extreme measures like muzzling all dogs in the world. We also need to avoid breed bias or owner bigotry where it is not supported. Interestingly, a year 2000 study by the Journal of American Veterinary Medicine examined a twenty year span of dog attack deaths (n=238), and found that over half were caused by Pit Bulls or Rottweilers. Intuitively, that statistic seems overwhelmingly significant. Yet when you look more closely it is clear that without taking into account all of the unmeasurable variables such as, for example, breed population, it is quite impossible to draw many conclusions from this observation. We cannot logically support higher homeowners insurance rates for certain breeds, or design fair policy based on genotype. We cannot do so any more fairly than saying that Hispanics or African Americans are more likely to shoot someone. We just don’t have the statistics, based on scientific studies to draw these conclusions. Those of us who would prefer to be scientific, or analytical cannot do so here without the data. Instead we are indeed limited to an empiric approach. We see as physicians certain repeated scenarios coming through the E.R. doors…But whereas wagering that the dog bite I will treat today in the emergency room is likely to be caused by a Rottweiler may be a good bet, making broad sweeping comments about the breed is misguided. Not much different than Veterinarians being wary of Chows, or Postal carriers avoiding Parson Russell Terriers.
I am sure we can all agree that we do not know all the reasons dogs bite, and cannot predict when. We cannot blanket any one breed with a predilection for aggression.
Perhaps we do all agree that dog-bites hurt the human-dog relationship. Dog-bites cost our society money and heartache. Dog-bites can hurt, maim, or kill our children.
While one can argue that, in the balance, dogs are worth it, it’s clear that if we can improve the situation we should. We can certainly put some effort into educating ourselves, and those around us about properly raising our four footed friends, and most of all into teaching our children how to safely and respectfully behave around dogs.
That’s what Bite Prevention Week is all about. Please enjoy the site links below.
http://www.avma.org/products/c.....g_book.pdf
http://www.avma.org/animal_hea.....ochure.asp
http://www.avma.org/public_health/dogbite/
http://www.avmatv.org/media.cf.....4&
http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecr.....ntion.html
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/.....d_CDC.html
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/.....istics.pdf
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/.....istics.pdf
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/.....d_CDC.html
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/.....19-25.html
Comment by Andrea Basile — May 21, 2010 @ 4:38 pm