From the study, a quarter of those bitten and nearly a third of those who weren’t bitten, required surgery. — Photos: Freepik
Mental trauma – including specific phobias and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – succeeds in one out of seven dog related injuries, while over half of the cases result in the need for time off work and/or loss of earnings, suggests a study of personal injury claims data for Britain and Wales, published online in Injury Prevention.
Since most of these claims involved unrestrained dogs in non-residential locations, mandating lead use on highways and in public spaces should be explored to boost public safety, urge the researchers.
The latest estimates for 2024 indicate that there are 13.6 million dogs in Britain.Hospital admissions for dog related injuries have risen from 4.76/100,000 people in 1998 to 18.7 in 2023 in Britain. In Wales, they rose from 16.3/100,000 people in 2014 to 23.7 in 2022.
Data were categorised into incidents involving dog bites and those involving strikes or other types of behaviour.
Analysis of the data showed that 816 dog related incidents, comprising 842 individual claims were recorded between January 2017 and March 2024.
Most (94%) incidents occurred in Britain and primarily involved dog bites (just over 91%); 7% were dog strikes.
Half of dog bite victims were male (53%), while dog strike victims were mainly female (70%).Women were more than twice as likely to be involved in a non-bite incident as men. Most of the injured didn’t know the dog involved (80%).
Mandating lead use on highways and in public spaces should be explored, urge the researchers.
Common locations
The three most common locations for dog bites were in front of a private residential property (just over 34%), on a highway or pavement (18%), and inside a private residential property (11%).
Almost half of non-bite incidents occurred in public spaces (49%), the most frequent of which were outdoor recreational areas, such as parks and nature reserves (34%), highways or pavements (23%), and ‘forestry, open land and water’ (11.5%).
Delivery workers made up over one in four (28%) of those bitten, most often during a delivery to a private residential property when an unrestrained dog came out of the front door (12%).Other situations involved walking, exercising, playing in public without a dog (11.5%); and walking with one’s own dog (11%).
The most common circumstances for non-bite incidents were either with a dog when out walking, exercising or playing in public (34%) or without (27%); and when a dog escaped from a private property (10%).
In both types of incident, most of the dogs weren’t restrained at the time. Most dogs involved in a bite (69%) or non-bite (77.5%) incident were reported to be with their owner.
Almost all (98%) of bite, and 78% of non-bite, incidents ended up with a physical injury. Fractures comprised nearly 4% of injuries, while tissue loss or amputations made up 3%. Non-bite incidents were primarily described as fractures (73%), muscle/tendon/ligament damage (9%), and soft tissue damage (9%). The head was injured in one in seven bite cases.
Most of those injured reported psychological consequences: (90%) of those who were bitten; and 76% of those who were the victims of other types of injuries.
In all, 15% of all those injured were formally diagnosed with a mental illness as a result of the incident, while 6.5% were diagnosed with a specific phobia and 4% with PTSD.Other mental health consequences included anxiety, disturbed sleep, and avoidance.
Hospital visit and surgery
Most of the physical injuries sustained resulted in a hospital visit. A quarter of those bitten, and nearly a third of those who weren’t bitten, required surgery.
Of the claimants still working when injured, 59.5% of those bitten and 56% of those who weren’t bitten took time off work, up to a maximum of five years. Over half of those bitten (54%) and 41.5% of those who weren’t reported loss of earnings as a result of their injuries.
“These data implicate unrestrained dogs in non-residential locations as a major inciting factor for dog-related injuries, and injury prevention strategies need to explore how lead use can be effectively legislated," the researchers say.
They add: “Most claimants reported that dogs were with their owners and off lead. Almost half of bite and more than 80% of non-bite incidents occurred in non-residential locations and the majority involved unrestrained dogs ... These findings raise concerns over owner control.”
“We recommend that national legislation is updated so that all dogs should be on a fixed-length short lead (less than 2m) on public highways and in urban green spaces.
“This exemption provision is to ensure that the important balance between public safety and dog welfare can be achieved. This should be partnered with a nationally coordinated public communication campaign,” they conclude.
