Dog-bite-related fatalities - United States, 1995-1996

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, May 30, 1997

From 1979 through 1994, attacks by dogs resulted in 279 deaths of humans in the United States (1,2). Such attacks have prompted widespread review of existing local and state dangerous-dog laws, including proposals for adoption of breed-specific restrictions to prevent such episodes (3). To further characterize this problem and the involvement of specific breeds, CDC analyzed data from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and media accounts in the NEXIS database(*). This report presents three recent cases of dog-bite-related fatalities (DBRFs), summarizes characteristics of such deaths during 1995-1996, and provides breed-specific data for DBRFs during 1979-1996. The findings in this report indicate that most DBRFs occurred among children and suggest approaches for prevention.

In January 1.995, a 2-year-old boy in South Dakota wandered into a neighbor's yard, where he was attacked and killed by two chained wolf-German shepherd hybrids. In September 1995, a 3-week-old girl in Pennsylvania was killed in her crib by the family Chow Chow while her parents slept in the next room. In March 1996, an 86-year-old woman in Tennessee went outside of her home to check the weather and was fatally mauled by two rottweilers owned by a neighbor; the dogs had attacked and injured the woman 1 month before the fatal attack.

The HSUS attempts to identify all DBRFs (1,2) and maintains a registry of these incidents. A DBRF was defined as a death caused by acute trauma from a dog attack. Case reports in the registry include details such as date of death, age and sex of decedent, city and state of attack, number and breeds of dogs involved, and circumstances. To supplement HSUS reports, CDC included data from the NEXIS database and death certificates. However, death-certificate data were not available for 1995-1996. Deaths associated with infection secondary to dog bites were excluded.

Data from HSUS and NEXIS were merged to maximize detection of cases and avoid duplicate reports. Because news media accounts can inaccurately report breeds of dogs involved in DBRFs, only breed data from the HSUS were used (4). When multiple dogs of the same breed were involved in a fatality, that breed was counted only once. When crossbred animals were involved in a fatality, each breed in the dog's parentage was counted once. Dogs were also classified as on or off the owner's property and whether they were restrained (e.g., chained or leashed) at the time of the attack.

During 1995-1996, at least 25 persons died as the result of dog attacks (11 in 1995 and 14 in 1996). Of the 25 DBRFs, 20 (80%) occurred among children (three were aged [is less than or equal to] 30 days [neonates], one was aged 5 months, 10 were aged 1-4 years, and six were aged 5-11 years), and five occurred among adults (ages 39, 60, 75, 81, and 86 years). Most (18 [72%]) DBRFs occurred among males.

Of 23 deaths with sufficient information for classification, seven (30%) involved an unrestrained dog off the owner's property, five (22%) involved a restrained dog on the owner's property, and 11 (48%) involved an unrestrained dog on the owner's property. Of the 25 deaths, nine (36%) involved one dog, nine (36%) involved two dogs, two (8%) involved three dogs, and five (20%) involved six to 11 dogs. All the attacks by unrestrained dogs off the owner's property involved more than one dog. Of the three deaths among neonates, all occurred on the dog owner's property and involved one dog and a sleeping child.

During 1995-1996, rottweilers were the most commonly reported breed involved in fatal attacks (Table 1). Fatal attacks were reported from 14 states (California [four deaths]; Florida and Pennsylvania [three each]; Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, and South Dakota [two each); and Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Washington [one each]).

[TABULAR DATA 1 NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]

Reported by. R Lockwood, PhD., Humane Society of the United States, Washington, DC. Div of Unintentional Injuries Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC.

Editorial Note: During 1979-1996, fatal dog attacks occurred in 45 states (Figure 1). In 1986, nonfatal dog bites resulted in an estimated 585,000 injuries that required medical attention or restricted activity; in that year, dog bites ranked 12th among the leading causes of nonfatal injury in the United States (5). In 1994, an estimated 4.7 million persons (1.8% of the U.S. population) sustained a dog bite; of these, approximately 800,000 (0.3%) sought medical care for the bite (6).

[Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The findings in this report are subject to at least two limitations. First, because death-certificate data were not available, the two sources used for case finding in 1995-1996 probably underestimated the number of DBRFs and may represent only 74% of actual cases (1,2). Second, to definitively determine whether certain breeds are disproportionately represented, breed-specific fatality rates should be calculated. The numerator for such rates requires complete ascertainment of deaths and an accurate determination of the breed involved, and the denominator requires reliable breed-specific population data (i.e., number of deaths involving a given breed divided by number of dogs of that breed). However, such denominator data are not available, and official registration or licensing data cannot be used because owners of certain breeds may be less likely than those owning other breeds to register or license their animals (3).