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According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, every 40 seconds someone in the United States seeks medical
attention for a dog bite-related injury. In 1994, some 4.7 million incidents
were reported in the United States with nearly 800,000 people requiring medical
treatment for dog bite-related injuries. Most of the victims are children under
13 years old with children five to nine years the most vulnerable.
In Nevada a study conducted by the Department of Human Resources, Bureau of
Health Planning & Statistics and the Department of Agriculture from 1999-2002
revealed the cost of dog bites for inpatient and outpatient medical care was
over $2.1 million per year. The average dog bite patient that had an inpatient
hospitalization spent almost three days in the hospital and incurred slightly
over $10,000 in hospital charges. The outpatient hospital rate from dog bites
for children 0-9 years old was 285.74 per 100,000 (1 out of 350 children), which
was almost double the total hospital outpatient rate due to dog bites for all
ages of 152 per 100,000 (1 out of 657 people). In 2002 a major insurance company
paid out $1.1 million in liability claims for dog bite injuries in Nevada. Even
though these statistics are startling, educational programs on canine behavior,
especially directed at children, can reduce these numbers.
Dog bites are a serious public health problem that can cause both physical and
emotional damage to victims and considerable cost to communities. A dog’s
tendency to bite depends on such factors as heredity, obedience training,
socialization, health, and the victim’s behavior. Dog bites are largely
preventable and prevention must begin with the owner and how the owner interacts
with the dog. A dog should undergo socialization with all members of the family,
people outside the family, and other animals.
In Nevada we started a school-based dog safety program in 1998 whereby school
nurses teach first grade students the proper behavior when interacting with dogs
in order not to have a negative experience. This program has been very well
received and appears to have good results. Based upon our study in Clark County
we have had a decline of over 11% in victims in age group 5-9 years seeking
medical treatment. This educational program was the only thing that was new. The
animal control regulation remained the same.
To further support this program, we have just produced BOW WOW “OW!” an 8-minute
dog safety video. The video provides basic information on dog communication and
addresses more than 12 common situations where children could have a negative
experience with dogs and then illustrates the proper behavior children should
possess while in each situation. The animation portion will be more appealing to
children and should hold their interest. The video is appropriate for children
from 4 to 9 years of age. We believe that the video will further help impress
upon children the importance of possessing proper behavior while interacting
with dogs. It will also aid in reinforcing the teaching points presented by the
school nurses and will also allow the teachers to periodically review the
information, reaffirming the importance by replaying the video. The video will
be distributed to all 318 elementary schools in Nevada and has the potential of
touching the lives of over 116,000 students in grades K-3.
For more information on how to order the video, visit the WAAHOO Productions web
site at http://www.bowwowow.com.
For more information on what the Animal Industry Division is doing, visit
http://agri.nv.gov/Index_Animal2.htm
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