Dog Bite Prevention Resolution Considered by Congress

[Miakoda]

Dog Bite Prevention Resolution Considered By Congress, USA

Main Category: Veterinary News
Article Date: 31 May 2007 - 12:00 PDT

Last year, 4.7 million people were bitten by dogs. Small children are the most common victims, followed by older people and United States Post Office (USPS) employees. These facts indicate why the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the USPS and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) sponsor Dog Bite Prevention Week, May 20-26th, 2007, and they are also why U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (MI-11), chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, introduced a resolution (PDF) to recognize the week and call on everyone to help prevent dog bites.

"When you consider the fact that there are 61 million dogs in the United States, it becomes clear that dog bite prevention is very important," said AVMA President Roger Mahr, DVM. "The only known cures for dog bites are training, knowledge and caution. Any dog may bite if it feels threatened, if it's put into an unfamiliar situation, if it's out of control or if it's scared."

Rep. McCotter's resolution calls on all municipalities to work with the AVMA and its partners to adopt and implement effective dog bite injury prevention programs to protect children and postal workers, including laws encouraging responsible dog ownership. The resolution also recommends enforcement of animal control ordinances, adoption and enforcement of non-breed-specific dangerous dog laws (because any dog of any breed can bite), prohibition of all dog fighting, and creation of children-and-adult-based education programs, which teach pet selection strategies, pet care and responsibility, and bite prevention techniques.

"As pediatricians, we often see the harm inflicted when dogs bite children," said Eileen Ouellette, MD, JD, FAAP, president of the AAP. "In addition to teaching children about safety -- whether rollerblading or riding in a car -- the AAP hopes families address safety around some of their furry friends."

To help educate the public about dog bites, the AVMA has developed a brochure, "What you should know about dog bite prevention," offering tips on how to avoid being bitten, what dog owners can do to prevent their dogs from biting and how to treat dog bites. For more information on National Dog Bite Prevention Week and to access the brochure online, visit www.avma.org/press/publichealth/dogbite/mediakit.asp

Important dog bite prevention tips include:

-- Pick a dog that is good match for your home. Consult your veterinarian for details about the behavior of different breeds.

-- Socialize your pet. Gradually expose your puppy to a variety of people and other animals so it feels at ease in these situations; continue this exposure as your dog gets older.

-- Train your dog. Commands can build a bond of obedience and trust between man and dog. Avoid aggressive games like wrestling or tug-of-war with your dog.

-- Vaccinate your dog against rabies and other diseases.

-- Neuter or spay your dog. These dogs are less likely to bite.

-- Never leave a baby or small child alone with a dog.

-- Teach your child to ask a dog owner for permission before petting any dog.

-- Let a strange dog sniff you or your child before touching it, and pet it gently, avoiding the face, head and tail.

-- Never bother a dog if it is sleeping, eating or caring for puppies.

-- Do not to run past a dog.

-- If a dog threatens you, remain calm. Avoid eye contact. Stand still or back away slowly until the dog leaves. If you are knocked down, curl into a ball and protect your face with your arms and fists.

If bitten, request proof of rabies vaccination from the dog owner, get the owner's name and contact information, and contact the dog's veterinarian to check vaccination records. Then immediately consult with your doctor. Clean bite wound with soap and water as soon as possible. If the attack victim is bleeding from a dog bite, immediately take them to a doctor or emergency room.

The AVMA, founded in 1863, is one of the oldest and largest veterinary medical organizations in the world. More than 73,000 member veterinarians are engaged in a wide variety of professional activities. AVMA members are dedicated to advancing the science and art of veterinary medicine including its relationship to public health and agriculture. Visit the AVMA Web site at www.avma.org to learn more about veterinary medicine and animal care and to access up-to-date information on the association's issues, policies and activities.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical sub specialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. An independent federal agency, the Postal Service makes deliveries to more than 142 million addresses every day and is the only service provider to deliver to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations but derives its operation revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services.

 

[ToscasMom]

Now don't get angry with me, but I always wince when they approach a cause by assigning a "week" to it. It is so typical of congress. Let's placate some people and wave a flag about this for a week and then forget about it till next year. So many of these things require legislation not resolutions. Resolutions are just publicity things that have no legal teeth.

 

[casablanca1]

"When you consider the fact that there are 61 million dogs in the United States, it becomes clear that dog bite prevention is very important," said AVMA President Roger Mahr, DVM. "The only known cures for dog bites are training, knowledge and caution. Any dog may bite if it feels threatened, if it's put into an unfamiliar situation, if it's out of control or if it's scared."

Oh, for god's sake. How long are we going to play this game of pretending that dog bites are all the same, and that we need to 'educate' people to prevent kids from getting nipped by the family pet? I know a few people who hate or fear dogs because of childhood bites, and none of those bites were from anything like what he describes - ie, the toddler sneaking up on a slumbering good dog and scaring it. They were all the result of highly agressive dogs with highly aggressive and/or indifferent owners. It's nice that we want parents to teach kids how to approach dogs, and the government wants people to know how to treat dogs - it makes walking a dog easier, for one thing. But these sorts of education efforts are like trying to solve violent crime by putting out pamphlets about how to approach dangerous-looking people. It's crazy.

 

[SharkyX]

But these sorts of education efforts are like trying to solve violent crime by putting out pamphlets about how to approach dangerous-looking people. It's crazy.

Perhaps. But from a political standpoint the other actions that have been taken lately are restricting and banning certain breeds in order to gain public favour.
In this case they are promoting educating people to gain public favour... which will hopefully be more effective then simply banning dogs outright.

 

[ToscasMom]

The thing is, congressional resolutions do not bind localities to even so much as pay attention to them. Resolutions are always a cowardly way out. They hand out Nanny pamphlets and call it a day instead of dealing with the issue. But since they have no jurisdiction over states and localities on this issue, it's all just a show and it's really all they can do. This "week" of interest will have little or no impact on the decisions made by communities.

One of the problems we see is people are NOT going to adapt to dogs, whether we like it or not. Dogs are expected to adapt to people. Telling the entire country they need to get educated to adapt to dogs' ways just is never going to fly. It's a people world, not a dog world. I know that's harsh and makes you want to Kill The Messenger, but it's the reality of the situation. If you attend a public hearing and someone shows up with photos of her son's maimed face and you stand up and say you think it's because he wasn't educated to the ways of the dog, they will run you out on a rail. It's like trying to fight Goliath with a fly swatter. People don't want to hear that their child "moved wrong" and therefore it's not the dog's fault. And while it is true that irresponsible owners are often responsible for these things, the general public can't grasp "punish the deed" because in their minds that means somebody has to be killed or maimed first. That does nothing to quell the fear and panic.

This is spreading like wildfire and I wish I could come up with an answer. But asking people to educate themselves and adapt to a dog as an important equal is just counter to society's rules of acceptabilty, particularly when victims show up complete with photos. Individual rights will always fly out the window if that right is considered a public danger. And who makes that determination? Elected officials based on input from half-crazed panicking mobs. Elected officials have the power to make these decisions regarding "public safety". That's how we all got forced to wear a seatbelt and how we all get fined if we are caught talking on a cell phone while driving. It's why nobody can smoke most places anymore. All of these were deemed in the best interest of the health and safety of public at large. The precedents have been set and once precedents are carved in stone, there is no stopping that train. Nobody cared about any these issues if they didn't effect them personally. What they forgot was, once precedents are set, individual rights no longer count when "public safety" is addressed.

 

[casablanca1]

1) I think BSL is of limited effectiveness, and I would much rather see effective animal control laws and enforcement. What really bothers me about the anti-BSL movement is that it seems satisfied with any solution that doesn't mean giving up their breeds. That indicates they have no interest in solving the problem of dog attacks beyond sheer self-interest, and I find that reprehensible as well as short-sighted.

2) I just don't think educating people about how to approach dogs is going to decrease dog bites - it's not like any of this is new, we've been telling people how to approach dogs and what to teach kids about dogs for decades now. I remember learning it as a kid. Any decrease in dog bites because of education is going to be minimal now; the bulk of the reachable people have been reached. Which means that education isn't going to change anything.
Returning to the dog-friendly position that if only ignorant people would learn how to approach Old Trey or Rover there would be no more dog bites is worse than pointless; it's going to result in a backlash when it doesn't work. Ultimately, angry voters will terrify politicians by pointing out that the last time public officials looked at dog bites, their politicians trusted dog experts and the vociferous anti-BSL movement and went with gentler measures and it didn't work. And what do you think politicians will go for? BSL.

 

[ToscasMom]

...and so the alternative solution is...??????

 

[casablanca1]

...and so the alternative solution is...??????

I'm not sure if you're talking to me or the other person, but if it's me, I said already in my above post: "effective animal control laws and enforcement." And yes, that'll be harder to do, but anything effective and worthwhile is harder to do.

 

[ToscasMom]

Actually, most cities that do Animal Control, do it as effectively as they can within financial reason. A dog is loose, you make a call, they come and get the dog. If the dog is licensed, the owner is contacted and fined. If the dog is not licensed and cannot be identified, well we know what happens there. However, the dog can do something dangerous before he is picked up. It is also dependent on someone spotting the dog. Police can regularly do that but dogs don't always just hang out waiting for someone to find them when they are loose. They go thru yards, etc etc. What Animal Control cannot do is go into someone's backyard on a sunny day where kids are playing with the dog in anticipation. Their power is subject to a report or a call from police or citizens. If a dog is chained day and night, they can deal with that if the dog has no shelter or water etc., but a dog control program's effectiveness is limited to identified issues. It's the ones that aren't identified that can getcha, and a Big Brother approach would never fly legally. It's also pretty safe to say that if there has been a robbery in an area, the police will be focused on the perp who ran away, even if a dog crosses their path in the process. If most American cities are like mine, it would be unimaginable that officers would be assigned with dog control as their number One priority, given the budgetary constraints and shortage of police who need to deal with crime. If taxes were going to be raised for more police, we could all bet that any additional officers would be assigned to human crime on the street. So you can see where BSL seems a lot more expedient and more cost effective in the end to city leaders. Your neighbor who hates you can simply place a call and report that you are harboring one o' dem big mean dogs. Snitching is the cheapest form of law enforcement. Or maybe we can just make a law where everybody is required to fence in their kids in case a loose dog is around. Just kidding of course. In any event, you can see why BSL is the idea of choice in financially strapped cities where most of this type of problem occurs. If our local governments aren't good at another thing, they are good at Quick, Dirty and Cheap.

 

[casablanca1]

Who said anything about raiding people's yards in anticipation? That's bizarre. I'm talking about strengthening the ability of local authorities to step in when there's a problem, and encouragement of those authorities to take action. Much local enforcement of animal control laws is extremely lax. Cops think the issue is beneath them, and animal control often feels that anything more rigorous than herding possums out of swimming pools is something best left to the cops. Which leaves people with problems exactly nowhere to turn.

If they do want to go the education route, however, I'd suggest educating people that it's best to report dog bites even when they're minor, and that a report of a dog bite doesn't mean automatic execution of the dog. A lot of serious dog attacks involve dogs who have bitten before, and the bites were never reported because they were 'learning bites,' less serious, and the victims were family or friends who were reluctant to 'get the dog into trouble.'

 

[ToscasMom]

I guess I still don't see how any of this differs from the way it already is. Animal control generally is supposed to call police for backup if the situation poses a danger to them. Even a trained cop wouldn't handle a situation of that alone. But overall, it is all reactive mode in the case of a serious attack. Dog gets loose. Dog Attacks. Police arrive.

We probably don't need to educate people about reporting learning bites, they very likely already know that they should do that, but like you said, they are protective of family and friends or the dog. It's not really an education issue so much as a loyalty issue.

 

[noludoru]

-- Pick a dog that is good match for your home. Consult your veterinarian for details about the behavior of different breeds.

The thing is, congressional resolutions do not bind localities to even so much as pay attention to them. Resolutions are always a cowardly way out. They hand out Nanny pamphlets and call it a day instead of dealing with the issue. But since they have no jurisdiction over states and localities on this issue, it's all just a show and it's really all they can do. This "week" of interest will have little or no impact on the decisions made by communities.

One of the problems we see is people are NOT going to adapt to dogs, whether we like it or not. Dogs are expected to adapt to people. Telling the entire country they need to get educated to adapt to dogs' ways just is never going to fly. It's a people world, not a dog world. I know that's harsh and makes you want to Kill The Messenger, but it's the reality of the situation. If you attend a public hearing and someone shows up with photos of her son's maimed face and you stand up and say you think it's because he wasn't educated to the ways of the dog, they will run you out on a rail. It's like trying to fight Goliath with a fly swatter. People don't want to hear that their child "moved wrong" and therefore it's not the dog's fault. And while it is true that irresponsible owners are often responsible for these things, the general public can't grasp "punish the deed" because in their minds that means somebody has to be killed or maimed first. That does nothing to quell the fear and panic.

This is spreading like wildfire and I wish I could come up with an answer. But asking people to educate themselves and adapt to a dog as an important equal is just counter to society's rules of acceptabilty, particularly when victims show up complete with photos. Individual rights will always fly out the window if that right is considered a public danger. And who makes that determination? Elected officials based on input from half-crazed panicking mobs. Elected officials have the power to make these decisions regarding "public safety". That's how we all got forced to wear a seatbelt and how we all get fined if we are caught talking on a cell phone while driving. It's why nobody can smoke most places anymore. All of these were deemed in the best interest of the health and safety of public at large. The precedents have been set and once precedents are carved in stone, there is no stopping that train. Nobody cared about any these issues if they didn't effect them personally. What they forgot was, once precedents are set, individual rights no longer count when "public safety" is addressed.

Great post...

I know someone already suggested it, it was someone on Chaz.. but something that might help is upping the fines to people with dangerous dogs, dogs that are allowed to run loose, dogs off leash in places where it's not legal, etc. Then there might be more of a rush to deal with the problem.

 

[blue]

But these sorts of education efforts are like trying to solve violent crime by putting out pamphlets about how to approach dangerous-looking people. It's crazy.

Ok the end of days is here I actually agree with Beverly. With that one statement only!

 

[Miakoda]

What really bothers me about the anti-BSL movement is that it seems satisfied with any solution that doesn't mean giving up their breeds.

Although your following statement is utter bullshit, this one actually makes sense standing alone.

Your right that we are satisfied with solutions that mean our innocent dogs won't be taken from our homes & killed in a van before they even make it back to some shelter somewhere for disposal. Because these solutions mean that ALL dogs will be held to equal standards & that laws like leash laws & true dangerous dog laws (emplemented for those dogs that have bitten a human already) are being enforced.

I'm all for the enforcing of leash laws. This means your dog must be on a leash at ALL times unless in your home or in your fenced in yard. No iffs, ands, or buts. And I'm personally for a 1-bite-and-your-out policy for ALL dog of ALL breeds & mixed breeds. Too many of these media reports we read about pertain to dogs that already have a bite history. NO dog is worthy of a second chance to repeat it's first bite.

Which means that education isn't going to change anything

Geez. I hope your not teaching this to our children as well. All right kids, don't worry about getting an education as being educated is only for fools.

In fact, EDUCATION IS KEY! Not the government invading our private lives & slaughtering our dogs all because people like you don't like them & complain all the time.

 

[blue]

Although your following statement is utter bullshit, this one actually makes sense standing alone.

Your right that we are satisfied with solutions that mean our innocent dogs won't be taken from our homes & killed in a van before they even make it back to some shelter somewhere for disposal. Because these solutions mean that ALL dogs will be held to equal standards & that laws like leash laws & true dangerous dog laws (emplemented for those dogs that have bitten a human already) are being enforced.

I'm all for the enforcing of leash laws. This means your dog must be on a leash at ALL times unless in your home or in your fenced in yard. No iffs, ands, or buts. And I'm personally for a 1-bite-and-your-out policy for ALL dog of ALL breeds & mixed breeds. Too many of these media reports we read about pertain to dogs that already have a bite history. NO dog is worthy of a second chance to repeat it's first bite.



Geez. I hope your not teaching this to our children as well. All right kids, don't worry about getting an education as being educated is only for fools.

In fact, EDUCATION IS KEY! Not the government invading our private lives & slaughtering our dogs all because people like you don't like them & complain all the time.

I know the day isnt over here yet, but you are my favorite person of the day.

 

[Boemy]

To be honest, dog bite laws are pretty effective, though they need to be enforced more readily in some localities. Just because the occasional dog fatality or dog mauling occurs doesn't mean it's a huge, pervasive problem, just like the fact that people drown every year doesn't mean there's anything wrong with our river and lake laws. It's just something you should expect to happen around large bodies of water.

 

[Brattina88]

I would love to see more education in my area... The way people around here act around dogs - its amazing more don't get bit -_-

 

[Aussie Red]

OK my 2 cents is this. They give this amount of dog bite numbers to grab attention to go for another type of legislation or move closer to a ban. Where do they get the number of bites ? Hospitals for one. How many of these reported bites are on a criminal from a police dog ? I mean put LA, Detroit, Chicago NY city and other large cities in the mix and how many bites are recorded and sent to the CDC daily that were criminals being bitten by police dogs ?
I have had dogs break my skin in rough play so because the skin got broken is it a bite ? Some will say it is and I should go to the doctor. Some fanatic would rush to seek medical help and a lawyer for that. I know the dog wasn't biting me and that in excitement of grabbing the toy I was nipped too. I just wont go along with any type of legislation on dog bite for the above reasons. I think they ought to go into session and figure out how Cheney shot his lawyer in the face first. That is more a menace to public safety.

 

[DryCreek]

Don't really need to say a thing, Miakoda said it all. :hail:

 

[casablanca1]

Ok the end of days is here I actually agree with Beverly. With that one statement only!

Whatever you say, Jethro.

Your right that we are satisfied with solutions that mean our innocent dogs won't be taken from our homes & killed in a van before they even make it back to some shelter somewhere for disposal.... Geez. I hope your not teaching this to our children as well. All right kids, don't worry about getting an education as being educated is only for fools. In fact, EDUCATION IS KEY! Not the government invading our private lives & slaughtering our dogs all because people like you don't like them & complain all the time.

"people like you." Nice. What a beautiful mix of victimhood and aggression. You cry for your breed and your dog, then you attack anyone who disagrees with you. That's classic. If you want to convince anyone of anything, you have to have a standard of behavior for conversation that doesn't include having hysterics and screaming foul whenever someone voices a different opinion. Sure, everyone here on this forum agrees with you and the mods agree with you and you get away with it constantly, and people all tell you that you're right and they wuv pitties too! But if you really want to defeat bsl in the real world, where obedient dog people are outnumbered by people who don't agree with you, you have to quit playing the victim/accuser role and deal with other POV's without calling everyone else a monster. That's what's killing your breeds, not 'people like me.'

What I said was that education won't have an appreciable effect on the number of dog bites. You can only educate so many people b/c, like it or not, the rest of the people are not going to respond in numbers great enough to justify a government program that relies largely on education. It's just a numbers game. I didn't suggest we stop telling kids to approach dogs sanely; I suggested it was bait and switch for the government to suggest that education on child/dog meetings was going to reduce the number of dog attacks.