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The Minneapolis/St. Paul personal injury law offices of Howard Sussman represents people with car accident injuries.

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Dog Bite Statistics

U.S. Dog attack stats

Someone in the U.S. is treated for a dog bite injury every 40 seconds.

An estimated 4.7 million Americans are bitten by a dog annually.

Approximately 386,000 dog bite victims require emergency room treatment. About a dozen people die each year.

An American has a one in 50 chance of being bitten by a dog.

Males are twice as likely to be victims of dog bites than females.

Most dog bites (61%) occur at home or in a place familiar to the victim, and the majority of the dogs involved (77%) are owned by the victim's family or friends. The family dog is the attacker half the time in those cases where the victim is a child of less than four years. The attack most frequently occurs in the family home (90%).

Children ages 5 to 9 years are most likely to be the victim of a dog bite. This rate decreases as children age.

Nearly 67% of the injuries to children ages four years and under are to the head or neck area. Approximately 86% of persons aged 15 years or older who received Emergency Room treatment suffered injuries to their extremities.

In 2001, approximately 16,476 dog bite injuries were work-related. Those most commonly injured were working at an animal shelter or clinic, doing home repair or installations, or delivering mail, packages, or food.

According to the U.S. Postal Service, more than 3,000 city and rural mail carrier were bitten by dogs in 2007.

Pit bulls, Rottweilers, Chows or Akitas are most frequently involved in a dog bit incident.

In 2008, 65% of dog bite deaths were caused by pit bulls; 39% of fatal attacks involved multiple dogs, and 9% involved dogs that were chained.

The states that led the death toll in 2007 were Texas (7 deaths), Georgia (4 deaths), and Tennessee (4 deaths).

Insurance companies paid over $317.2 million in dog bite liability claims in 2005 alone. (Insurance Information Institute)

There are numerous reasons why a dogs bites. They may bite out of fear, to protect their territory or to assert dominance over the person bitten. Some owners misguidedly teach their dogs to bite as an acceptable kind of play behavior.

• The majority of dog bites involve dogs that are licensed and have an identifiable owner as opposed to strays.
• More dog bite incidents are caused by dogs between the ages of one and five years than dogs older than six years. Male dogs tend to be more dangerous than females, and those not spayed or neutered are three times more likely to bite than sterilized dogs.
• Even a very docile dog will often become uncharacteristically violent and vicious when in a pack.

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Veterinary Medical Association, American Humane Association and the Humane Society of the U.S.

Have you or someone you know suffered injuries from an animal attack? If so, contact Minneapolis dog bite lawyer Howard Sussman today!

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The Law Offices of Howard Sussman is a Minneapolis/St. Paul based personal injury law firm that works for injured clients throughout Minnesota including the following cities: Minneapolis St. Paul Plymouth Burnsville St. Louis Park Golden Valley Edina Bloomington Eden Prarie Eagan Richfield Maplewood Roseville Brooklyn Park Maple Grove Blaine Lakeville Woodbury