Friday, September 5, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page -Fifteen
Fridy, epteber5, 975 HE ICHIAN AIL Pag Fitee
MAN'S BEST FRIEND?
I
I
Iaws:
Do
By W. ROBERT WELLER
Associated Press Writer
Eleven-year-old Greg Wolfram
was waiting for his school bus
in Las Vegas, Nev., when he
was attacked and critically in-
jured.
Five-year-old Brent Cryder
died after being mauled in his
back yard near Minooka, Ill.
Both were recent victims of
what public health officials call*
the nation's unrecognized epi-
demic: dog bites. And studies
in several cities show that more'
than half of the epidemic's vic-
tims are children.
MORE THAN a million dog
bites occur annually and last
year resulted in at least six
deaths, says a spokesperson for
the National Center for Disease
Control in Atlanta.
Gonorrhea is the only public
health reported more frequent-
ly, according to the Center's
records A spokesperson said;
bites probably would outnum-
ber gonorrhea cases if they
were reported as efficiently.
Case histories in New York,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St.
Louis have shown that "in the
vast majority of bite cases the'
victim was behaving in a social-
ly acceptable way in a socially
acceptable place," says Alan
Beck, chief of New York City's
Bureau of Animal Affairs.
CITY DWELLERS complain
to municipal leaders about
"dogs and other pet problems"
more than any other issue, ac-
cording to a National League of4
Citizens survey published last
year.
The reported rate of dog bites
began increasing rapidly in the
1960s although there's no evi-
dence the total dog population
increased \ significantly, says
Beck.
A New York City Public
Health Department study notes
that bites have risen 33 per
cent since 1965 in New York
City, and a survey of other cit-
ies showed similar increases.
The study attributes the in-
crease to rising crime and a
trend toward larger dogs, some
of them attack-trained.
"EIGHT YEARS ago adver-
tisements for friendly dogs as
pets were the only ones shown
*... now several pages are de-
voted to advertisements of
guard dogs. Pictures depicting
growling German shepherds and
boxers in agressive attitudes
predominate," the study says.
Bites from large dogs usually
are more serious and are more
likely to be reported. Big dogs
often are more likely to bite be-
cause they have been attack-
trained or are irritable because
they are confined in a yard or
house too small for them, the
New York study says.
In St. Louis, 36.7 per cent of
all reported bites were from
German shepherds. But that
doesn't mean that one breed is
responsible for the epidemic.
BECK SAYS that German
shepherds are popular pets,
easy for victims to identify and
often are placed in provocative
situations.
At least two recent fatalities
were traced to usually amen-
able St. Bernards; the Minooka,
l., death involved two Collies
and a Labrador retriever.
But despite the high incidence
of dog bites, concern about the
public health implications of the
nation's large dog population
has focused on dog excrement
and its related sanitation prob-
lems, Beck says.
bite
And Beck explained that his
surveys of bites in St. Louis and
Baltimore found that there were
more free-ranging dogs in ghet-
tc, low-income areas that had
large black populations than in
high income areas.
Beck says this economic link
could mean even more bites if
the nation's deteriorating econ-
omic situation results in more
dogs being left to their own de'
vices.
THE INJURY: There's more
than torn trousers involved in
most deported bites. A Phila-
delphia Health Department
study revealed that 10 per cent
of all bites require suturing.
The St. Louis study found that
one of every 50 hospital emer-
gency room admissions resulted
from dog bites. A survey of sev-
eral other cities showed that
figure to be typical.
While most bites were on the
pets permitted to roam freely
develop their own territories
and "a stranger walking down
such a street risks being bit-
ten by an aggressive dog that
considers the street his terri-
tory."
THE INCIDENT: The New
York study showed that "the
period of the most intense dog-
bite activity is between 3 p.m.
and 7 p.m., when children are
discharged from school, adults
return from work, and dogs are
walked - many after long hours
of confinement in an apart-
ment."
THE ST. LOUIS study found'
that only 2.1 per cent of the
bites could be attributed to de-
liberate provocation of the dog
and that nearly 40 per cent of
the victims "did not interact
with the dog, its owner, nor the
owner's property" in any way.
Of the bites that did involve
the dog or its owner, playing
with the dog, talking with the
owner or walking near the own-
er's property were the most fre-
quent causes of bites in St.
*Louis.
on
SOLUTIONS: The New York
study says stricter enforcement
of leash laws and "fair but firm
provisions for the lawful des-
truction of proved ferocious or
man-biting dogs" would help re-
duce the problem.
In many states, the owner "is
allowed one or more free bites
of a human" before his dog can i
be destroyed, Beck said. He
adds that in some of those
states the dog can be destroyed
after its first attack on live-
stock.
Guy Hodge of the Humane
Society's Washington headquar-
ters views the problem as one
of "owner responsibility." Dog
owners must restrain their pets.
rise
II
11
"WE'VE BEEN focusing on Y11 ,u ULOwyU1LI
"WE'VEBEEN focusg on hextremities, nearly 37 per cent
the wrong end of the dog,"he of the children bitten in St.
says. Beck says dog bite in- Louis suffered bites on the face
juries are the "most frequent and neck - both areas where
and socially most costly" ele- nearly any bite would be seri-
ments of growing health prob- ous.
lems related to dogs.
Dog bites cost an average of THERE HASN'T been a con-
$50 in medical fees and at least firmed case of canine-inflicted
as much for the public agencies t abies since 1963 in the U.S.,
that most deal with them, stu- Beck says. But thousands of
dies of case histories in St. bite victims are forced to start
Louis and New York indicate. the rabies shots series because
That means an annual price tag the dog can't be found in time
of at least $100 million nation- to test it for rabies.
wide. THE DOG: The dogs involved
The dog bite problem has not in these incidents aren't aban-
been widely studied, but case doned, public health officials
histories in Baltimore, Phila- and the Humane Society say.
delphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, The vast majority of them can
Norfolk, Va., and New York be traced to owners.
THE NEW YORK study warns --
potential dog owners who live
tn urban and suburban residen-
tial areas that "guard and at-
tack trainingta . . often makes
a dog unsuitable as a pet be-
cause such training puts not
lust the would-be criminal, but
also the neighbors, the family
adnd the owner at increased risk -
of dog bite injury."
Jse Daily Cicassifieds
More than half
occurred off the
property; five per
in school yards.
of the bites
dog owner's
cent of them
Beck says a recognition of the
problem is the first step toward
its, solution. He says that "peo-
ple must realize that when a
dog bites a man, it is news."
!
=,
SORCI
have helped identify the typica The New York study says
bite case: packs of straying pets - more
dangerous than wild dogs be-
THE VICTIM: Most were chil- cause they aren't afraid of hu-
dren like five-month-old Tracy mans - form "in the morning
Wax of Kansas City. She was or evening hours, particularly
killed Jan. 14 by the family dog, around a female in heat."
while her mother was taking a
nap. The dog, a mongrel that THE KENDALL County sher-
was primarily a Basenji, had iff's office says the Minooka,
given birth to two puppies a1Ill., death appears to have in-
couple of weeks earlier. volved dogs following a bitch in
Nearly two per cent of all heat.
children have been bitten. "Chil- The New York study adds that
dren and youngsters have close
contact with dogs, often handle
them roughly, and are prone to
approach and pet strange dogs,"
the New York study says.AL
In more than 90 per cent ofAL
the cases in St. Louis, the vic-
tims were neither the dog own-
er nor a member of the owner's
family.j
FROM five to ten per cent of D
all bites occurred while the vic-'
tim was working. Six per -ent
of all mailmen suffer bites an-
nually, Beck says.
Beci, who conducted ihe St.
Louis Study with Honey Lcring B EK
for Washington University's
Center for the Biology of Natur-
al Systems, says most victims'
there were male and black. ;
RUS
M S METN7:30 p.m.-Mic
UITY I
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Males were found to have
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