Rationale:

• Dog bites are equally likely to result from provoked and unprovoked dogs.
• Most dog bites occur in children between the ages of 5 and 9 and result from dogs familiar to them.
• Children aged 4 years or younger are most likely to be hospitalized from dog bite injuries.
• Education of children about unfamiliar dogs can result in decreased risk of dog bites.
• Fatal dog bites are most often committed by unrestrained dogs on the owner's property.
• Certain breeds of dogs account for most fatal dog attacks, including pit bulls, rottweilers, German shepherds, huskies, malamutes, wolf-dog hybrids, chow chows, and Dobermans.
• Neutering male dogs can decrease aggressive behavior.
• Most cat bites are the result of someone provoking the cat.
• Kittens adopted out of litter do not learn to avoid rough play and thus need to be trained on how to interact with their owners.

Evidence:

• Approximately 50% of dog bites result from unprovoked dogs (1; 2).
• Compared with adults aged 20 to 39 years, children aged 4 years or younger and aged 5 to 9 years are 2.8 and 2.2 times, respectively, more likely to be hospitalized from a dog bite (69).
• Over 70% of dog bites result from the victim's own pet or a dog familiar to him or her (3; 4; 5).
• A randomized controlled trial of educational intervention in children aged 7 to 8 significantly lowered the rate of petting unfamiliar dogs from 79% to 9% after only 30 minutes of education (10).
• Most fatal dog bites in a 20-year period resulted from unrestrained dogs either on (58%) or off (24%) of the owner's property, whereas only 17% resulted from attacks by restrained dogs on the owner's property (11).
• German shepherd dogs account for 50% to 60% of all dog bites (12).
• Pit bulls and rottweilers accounted for 32% and 19% of fatal dog attacks over a 20-year period from 1979 to 1998 (11).
• Of the fatal dog attacks where neuter status was known, 95% of the dogs were not neutered (13).
• Of 263 consecutive cat bites reported in one city in 1995, 235 (89.4%) were caused by provoked animals (1).

Comments:

• None.