Dog bite

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Classification according to ICD-10
W54 Being bitten or pushed by the dog
ICD-10 online (WHO version 2019)
Dog bite after three days

A dog bite is an injury to a human or other animal caused by a domestic dog's bite and has a role in medicine , veterinary medicine, and justice . A dog's bite always requires immediate medical attention because of the risk of wound infection.

Causes and prevention of biting accidents

Dog bite on a girl

The vast majority of biting accidents happen in the family environment of a dog, only a small proportion of the accidents are caused by strange dogs. Children between the ages of 5 and 9 are particularly common victims. There is a particularly high risk of aggressive behavior on the part of the dog at home, and a significantly lower risk on the street.

The behavioral basis for biting a dog is aggressive and hunting behavior. When it comes to aggressive behavior, a distinction must be made between offensive aggression (attack) and defensive aggression ( defensive biting ). The overwhelming majority of aggressive reactions in dogs are caused by fear.

In addition to other boundary conditions such as incorrect selection of breeds and insufficient socialization, a lack of expertise on the part of the dog owner in particular leads to the dog in question becoming dangerous. Dog aggression is highly context-specific: dogs that behave aggressively toward strangers often don't toward family members. This suggests that dogs learn to behave aggressively in certain situations.

A study by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover showed that owners of non-biting dogs were able to influence their dogs better, the interactions were more relaxed and the owners gave the dogs more security. They were also able to better assess the behavior of their dogs. With regard to measures frequently requested by non-specialists, such as constant leash obligation and general muzzle compulsory , Bruns showed that this prevents typical social contacts and can lead to insufficient workload and frustration, which, as a stress trigger , can lower the inhibition threshold for aggressive behavior. In addition, dogs that wear a muzzle are often looked at intensively, which means a threatening situation for the dogs.

Practical accident prevention is described in leaflets, for example from city administrations or veterinary associations:

  • never stroke a stranger's dog without the owner's consent,
  • never touch a dog from behind
  • never go after a retreating dog and harass it,
  • never look in the eyes or stare at a dog for long periods of time as this could make it feel threatened (see staring threateningly ),
  • never run away, as most dogs show interest in moving creatures and run after them, in the worst case they could see a child as prey to be hunted.
  • never shout out loud as this irritates the dog and could react aggressively.

Fending off an existing attack is only possible to a limited extent. The following police measures are taught:

  • Offering a bite object to keep the dog at a distance
  • Use of pepper spray (with reference to possible very different effects, including increased aggression)
  • Firearms use

Accident prevention in dogs and children

Bite injuries to the face are particularly common in children. Much of these injuries are caused by family dogs or other known dogs. Children between the ages of four and seven are unable to correctly read a dog's facial expression. For example, they misinterpret threats as laughter. This increases the risk of biting accidents. Appropriate prevention is therefore of great importance.

The most important point in accident prevention for children is never to leave dogs and small children unattended. The reason for this recommendation is the inability of children to assess the behavior of dogs as well as the fact that situations can arise in which the dog's aggressive behavior towards the child is to be regarded as a species-typical reaction (for example a threatening situation from the dog's perspective ). A triggering of prey-catching behavior in dogs by the behavior of children is also possible and is described in reports of attacks by dogs on children.

In Switzerland, the Federal Veterinary Office publishes the brochure "Tapsi, komm ..." ("Truf ', viens ..." / "Vieni Brillo ...") , which aims to teach children how to behave correctly when dealing with dogs.

In the UK, the Blue Dog program was developed. An evaluation found that while this program increases children's knowledge of how to handle dogs safely, it does not increase the practical implementation of such behavior and that further research is needed to enable effective intervention.

Introducing children to the correct behavior when dealing with dogs is promoted by various associations and training centers. There are specially tested school dogs and visiting dogs that can be used in school classes to help children reduce fear and practice correct behavior. Over 350,000 children in Germany have already been trained in their classes through the Dog Help People Association . The teaching concept is geared towards children aged nine to twelve. At this age, children are open to argument and ready to control their emotions . Quality assurance according to the guidelines of ESAAT ( European Society for Animal Assisted Therapy , based in Vienna at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna) requires extensive training of dog and owner. A 2015 meta-study found that videos are the most effective way to increase children's knowledge, but direct dog guidance is more effective at improving children's behavior.

consequences

Dog bites can cause significant damage . Skin injuries, but also deeper wounds with torn muscles , tendons or injuries to joints and bones can occur. Since the oral cavity of a dog is never sterile, there is also a great risk of wound infection by bacteria . The incubation time is less than 13 hours. The danger is greater when wounds heal superficially, but deep down, inflammatory processes start. There is no consensus on whether or not to stitch dog bites. The corresponding guideline of the German Society for Pediatric Surgery explicitly provides for primary wound care within 8–12 hours (on the face, due to the cosmetic success, from 12 hours). Overall, the risk of infection is 4 to 25 percent. One study came to the result that the infection rate with sewn or unsutured bite wounds is comparably high, but the cosmetic result after sewing is better. Prompt treatment is important to avoid infection. A prophylactic treatment with antibiotics can be done within eight hours after the bite. Infections with the rabies virus do not play a major role in Central and Northern Europe due to the high vaccination coverage of domestic dogs and freedom from rabies, but they still have to be considered with every bite. At the v. a. Stray dogs that are more common in southern Europe should be vaccinated against rabies; in Asia, dog bites repeatedly lead to rabies infections.

liability

In Germany, the owner of a dog is generally liable for all damage caused by his dog ( strict liability ) , regardless of fault, in accordance with Section 833 sentence 1 BGB . In addition to property damage such as soiled clothing and traffic accidents caused by lost dogs, the liability to pay compensation for bite injuries is particularly relevant. In addition to the healing costs, you may also be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering. The amounts can easily exceed a dog owner's financial capacity.

There is no general, Germany-wide compulsory insurance for liability claims for dog owners . In individual dog laws , insurance obligations are stipulated to varying degrees for different sub-areas of the dog population. For example, in North Rhine-Westphalia there is an insurance requirement for large dogs (from 20 kg body mass or 40 cm shoulder height). In Lower Saxony , all dogs older than 6 months must be insured. Liability insurance must be taken out and maintained with a minimum sum insured of € 500,000 for personal injury and € 250,000 for property damage and other financial losses. Hamburg is the first federal state to have compulsory insurance (€ 1 million with a maximum of € 500 excess) for all dogs in the dog law. In Berlin , liability insurance for dogs must be taken out to cover personal injury and property damage caused by the dog with a minimum coverage of € 1 million per insured event.

Biting behavior in conspecifics

In most cases, dogs can clarify conflicts through imposing behavior , threatening, snapping off (without touching the body) and gestures of submission . In some cases, these behaviors are not enough. It can lead to a comment fight ("scuffle"), which is characterized by loud volume and impressive gestures, but should end without injuries. Small injuries can happen accidentally.

On the other hand, a comparatively seldom serious fight or damage fight appears less dangerous for most observers, since the dogs do not try to impress each other, but rather bite quickly and usually silently.

The Schleswig Administrative Court took these findings into account by ruling in a judgment of March 23, 2006 that a dog that bites another should only be classified as dangerous if it does not observe the usual submission gesture of the opposing dog, but bites anyway .

Bite statistics

Germany

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

In the years 1998–2015, the official figures from the Federal Statistical Office on the subject of dog bites in humans in Germany show 0–8 deaths per year; on average approx. 3.6 deaths.

There are no common bite statistics for the whole of Germany. According to statistics from North Rhine-Westphalia, which are based on reports from the municipalities, a total of 841 reported attacks by dogs (without racial preference) on people with consequences of injuries and 1146 attacks by dogs on other dogs, 58 of them fatal, were officially counted in 2001 .

In 2004, 859 human bite incidents (in 462,315 dogs kept in NRW) were officially reported in North Rhine-Westphalia.

These figures say nothing about the cause and extent of the injuries. Lighter accidents as well as serious cases with very severe bite injuries from attacking dogs are included.

According to Claudia Engfeld, the spokeswoman for the Senator for Justice and Consumer Protection Thomas Heilmann , according to statistics, the number of bite incidents since the introduction of a Berlin breed list in 1999 has fallen from around 300 per year to currently 25 (as of 12th 2013).

Austria

According to the leisure accident statistics of the Board of Trustees for Road Safety , around 5,900 Austrians have to be treated in the hospital after dog attacks every year. One fifth of those affected are children. 80 percent of injuries are bite wounds, 20 percent scratches and injuries. The most frequent injuries are registered in Lower Austria with 1,100 incidents, followed by Vienna and Upper Austria with 1,000 injuries each. The fewest incidents were reported in Vorarlberg and Burgenland, with 200 injured each.

Switzerland

According to a large-scale study from September 2000 to August 2001, the number of bite injuries treated annually in Switzerland is estimated at around 10,000 per year. Of these, 34% of the cases were dogs belonging to acquaintances, and in 24% of the cases even their own dog was the cause. Children are bitten twice as often as adults. Males bite three times more often than bitches and younger dogs (<5 years) more often than older dogs. Shepherds and Rottweilers are over-proportionally represented.

In Switzerland, dog bite injuries are subject to medical or veterinary reporting .

Fatal dog bite incidents in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

The fatal dog bite incidents known in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are mostly caused by large dogs. Of the 20 cases reported by forensic medicine institutes in about 10 years, 10 times dogs from the family's own bite were found.

United States

The US health authorities put the annual number of medically treated dog bites in the US at around 800,000, half of them children. Around 16 injured die every year.

Canada

Statistics Canada shows a total of 15 (between 0 and 3 annually) deaths from being bitten or pushed by a dog for the years 2000 to 2009.

France

The French national health authority (Agence nationale de santé publique) reported five deaths in 2012 as a result of being bitten or pushed by a dog.

literature

Web links

Commons : Dog Bites  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files
Wiktionary: dog bite  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ KW. Kizer: Epidemiologic and clinical aspects of animal bite injuries . In: Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians . tape 8 , no. 4 , 1979, p. 134-141 , PMID 430939 .
  2. ↑ Harold B. Weiss, Deborah I. Friedman, Jeffrey H. Coben: Incidence of Dog Bite Injuries Treated in Emergency Departments . In: The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) . tape 279 , no. 1 , 1998, p. 51-53 , doi : 10.1001 / jama.279.1.51 .
  3. ↑ Gina Polo, Néstor Calderón, Suzanne Clothier, Rita de Casssia Maria Garcia: Understanding dog aggression: Epidemiologic aspects. In: Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research. 10, 2015, pp. 525-534, doi: 10.1016 / j.jveb.2015.09.003 .
  4. ↑ a b Sandra Bruns: Five dog breeds and one dog type in the character test according to the Lower Saxony Dangerous Animal Ordinance of July 5, 2000 . Dissertation Hanover 2003.
  5. ↑ Rachel A. Casey, Bethany Loftus, Christine Bolster, Gemma J. Richards, Emily J. Blackwell: Human directed aggression in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris): Occurrence in different contexts and risk factors. In: Applied Animal Behavior Science. 152, 2014, pp. 52-63, doi: 10.1016 / j.applanim.2013.12.003 .
  6. ↑ Veterinary Association for Animal Welfare eV: Child and Dog. How to prevent injuries to children from dogs? ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Leaflet No. 104 (PDF, 74.5 KB) accessed on April 23, 2010.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tierschutz-tvt.de
  7. ↑ Leaflet for police measures in connection with dogs (PDF; 141 kB)
  8. ↑ S. Uhlarik, M. Keßler, S. Berger and F. Linke: Dog bite injuries of the face in children . In: Emergency & Rescue Medicine . tape 3 , no. 4 , 2000, pp. 242-247 , doi : 10.1007 / s100490070050 .
  9. ↑ Kerstin Meints, K. Allen, C. Watson: Atypical face-scan patterns in children misinterpreting dogs facial expressions evidence from eye-tracking. In: Injury Prevention. Volume 16, 2010, p. A173, doi: 10.1136 / ip.2010.029215.619
  10. ↑ S. Heinze, DU Feddersen-Petersen u. a .: Fatal attacks by dogs on children. In: Forensic Medicine. 24, 2014, pp. 37-41, doi: 10.1007 / s00194-013-0932-3 .
  11. ↑ Tapsi brochure , come ... PDF - Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO 04/2014, accessed on October 27, 2017.
  12. ↑ DC Schwebel, BA Morrongiello a. a .: The Blue Dog: Evaluation of an Interactive Software Program to Teach Young Children How to Interact Safely With Dogs. In: Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 37, 2012, pp. 272-281, doi: 10.1093 / jpepsy / jsr102 .
  13. ↑ Jiabin Shen, Jenni Rouse et al. a .: Systematic Review: Interventions to Educate Children About Dog Safety and Prevent Pediatric Dog-Bite Injuries: A Meta-Analytic Review. In: Journal of Pediatric Psychology. S. jsv164, doi: 10.1093 / jpepsy / jsv164 .
  14. ^ Marianne Abele-Horn: Antimicrobial Therapy. Decision support for the treatment and prophylaxis of infectious diseases. With the collaboration of Werner Heinz, Hartwig Klinker, Johann Schurz and August Stich, 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Peter Wiehl, Marburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-927219-14-4 , p. 319.
  15. ↑ a b Nikolaos K. Paschos, Eleftherios A. Makris u. a .: Primary closure versus non-closure of dog bite wounds. A randomized controlled trial. In: Injury. 45, 2014, p. 237, doi: 10.1016 / j.injury.2013.07.010 .
  16. ↑ Guideline of the German Society for Pediatric Surgery: Wounds and Wound Treatment ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 58 kB) (Status: 04/2011)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.awmf.org
  17. ↑ St. Kronenberger: Dog bite: Primarily close the wound ?! medical-tribune.de
  18. ^ Marianne Abele-Horn: Antimicrobial Therapy. Decision support for the treatment and prophylaxis of infectious diseases. 2009, p. 319.
  19. ↑ Lower Saxony Law on Keeping Dogs, Section 5 NHundG
  20. ↑ Erik Zimen: The dog: descent - behavior - man and dog (= Goldmann, volume 12397 ). Goldmann, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-442-12397-6 , p. 350 ff.
  21. ↑ Schleswig-Holsteinisches VG, from March 23, 2006, file number 3 A 74/05, dpa report
  22. ↑ Deaths from external causes and their consequences (from 1998). Structural characteristics: years, region, age, gender, nationality, ICD-10 (VY), ICD-10 (ST). Robert Koch Institute in cooperation with the Federal Statistical Office, accessed on November 6, 2017 .
  23. ↑ Elmar Schütze: Criticism of the breed list in the dog law: "The problem is often at the other end of the leash". In: Berliner Zeitung . (BLZ) from December 19, 2013, ( online ).
  24. ↑ Thousands of people injured by dog ​​bites. Every year 5,900 Austrians are injured so seriously by dogs that they have to be treated in hospital. Die Presse, May 10, 2011, accessed May 10, 2011 .
  25. ↑ Ursula Horisberger: Medically treated dog bite injuries in Switzerland: Victims - dogs - accident situations. Diss. University of Bern 2002.
  26. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: obligation to report bite accidents on the FVO website , accessed on 23 August 2012.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.blv.admin.ch
  27. ↑ J. Reuhl, R. Urban, H. Bratzke , M. Willnat: Deadly dog ​​bites in the sections of forensic medicine institutes results of a questionnaire campaign . In: Forensic Medicine . tape 11 , no. 1 , 2001, p. 4-11 , doi : 10.1007 / s001940100084 .
  28. ^ Dog Bite: Fact Sheet. (No longer available online.) CDC, April 1, 2008, archived from the original on August 2, 2012 ; Retrieved July 28, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cdc.gov
  29. ↑ Table 102-0540 - Deaths, by cause, Chapter XX: External causes of morbidity and mortality (V01 to Y89), age group and sex, Canada, annual (number), CANSIM (database). Statistics Canada, May 31, 2012, accessed August 15, 2012 .
  30. ↑ Linda Lasbeur, Bertrand Thélot: Mortalité par accident de la vie courante en France métropolitaine, 2000-2012. Agence nationale de santé publique, September 15, 2016, p. 8 , accessed on November 8, 2017 (French).