According to records kept by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4.5 million people were bitten by dogs between the years 2001 to 2003. Every year about 850,000 people receive dog bites that are severe enough for them to seek medical help. A little over 350,000 of these dog bite victims had to go to the emergency room and every year a few dozen people are killed. For example, 35 people were killed in 2015 and 42 people were killed in 2014. Dog bites are the fifth most common reason why children are rushed to emergency rooms.
Most people are bitten by their own dogs or the dogs of people they know, taking place on the property of the dog’s owner, and the victims are usually adults. [Read more…]