National Dog Bite Prevention Week highlights increasing problem

Thu, 20 May 2010

With alarming statistics being released about dog bites, the National Dog Bite Prevention Week (May 16–22) is a timely reminder about safety, especially with reports that dog attacks in the UK have increased by over 60% in the last decade, and that children are three times more likely to be attacked than adults.

It was also found that most injuries to children happened to their faces, and 90 per cent of hospital admissions for dog attacks were treated as emergencies. Even dog attacks on postal staff have increased by a fifth over the last year.

This rise has highlighted the importance of preventive measure to avoid both adults and children from suffering unnecessarily from dog bites and dog-related injuries . Ways of staying safe when a dog approaches include not turning and running, but rather standing still with your hands at your sides so that the dog doesn’t think of you as a threat; you should also face the dog but not stare, and not put your hand out or scream.

For parents with young children, it is advised that you don’t leave a child or baby alone with any dog, and not allow them to discipline a dog, or pull its collar, ears or tail, or feed or walk one unsupervised. Other useful advice includes not letting your child play aggressive games such as wrestling with any dog, or approach a dog that is in someone else’s car or garden.

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.