The internet's most comprehensive source for current statistics on
fatal dog attacks in the USA
2 fatalities from dog attacks have been documented thus far in the United States for 2010
(updated 1/22/10)
- California: A family-owned pit bull type dog attacked and killed a three-year-old boy on January 9 in Apple Valley, San Bernardino County. A news report indicates that the father left his son momentarily in the backyard to get a toy from inside the house, and upon his return he discovered that his son had already been attacked, and was not breathing. Authorities arrived at the scene, and shot and killed the dog. The incident was one of five fatal dog attacks in Southern California’s Inland Empire since 2006.
- Illinois: A 56-year-old South side Chicago man was mauled to death by at least two pit bull type dogs in his home on January 17. In total, there were six pit bull type dogs found in the home, four adults and two puppies, owned by his daughter who may have been breeding the dogs, although this is not clear. The daughter also lived at the home but was not home at the time of the attack. The mauling was savage, with both ears bitten off, one of the man’s eyes completely gouged, and numerous bites throughout the man’s torso and extremities, suggesting more than one dog’s involvement. According to neighbors, these dogs did not have a history of aggression towards people, were friendly towards neighbors, and the daughter maintain good control over of the dogs. Authorities concluded that the death was “accidental”.
Disclamers
(1) The accuracy of the information posted on this site depends on the validity and accuracy of the newspaper reports from which information posted on this site has been collected. Individuals seeking verification of the facts surrounding any particular incident can easily do online research of news stories for verification purposes. For this reason, no separate listing of the reference sources from which this information was collected will be made. In the least, it is assumed that reports are valid concerning the fact that a dog-related fatality happened. News reports may be inaccurate and may misrepresent other important imformtion, such as the breed of dog(s) involved in the incident, however. Since there may be error in the identification of the breed of dog(s) involved in a fatal attack as reported in newspaper stories, it would be a mistake to use information posted on this site to support agendas promoting legislation banning, limiting or curtailing the ownership of certain breeds of dog, such as a so-called "pit bull" dog (read "Problems with pit bull terrier identification"). Note that a pit bull is not a breed of dog, but instead the term has come to be widely used to describe a dog that has an appearance similar to a American Pit Bull terrier of American Staffordshire terrier. In some cases a dog described as a pit bull may in fact be an American Staff (AKC recognized) or an American Pit Bull (UKC recognized), but in other cases it may not. Since other breeds of dog physically resemble these breeds, mistaken identity is frequently made and consequently numbers are inflated for the number of attacks involving so-called "pit bulls". Further, correct breed identification becomes more problematic when the dog involved in an attack is a mixed-breed. Hence, ambiguity exists when using the term "pit bull". Dr. Polsky discourages and specifically requests that statistics on this site not be used to suppprt breed specific legislation. Note that other data collection techniques (animal control reports, police reports, witness observation) used for breed identification purposes in fatal dogs attacks may also be flawed for these reasons. For obvious reasons, those interested in this area need to proceed with caution before drawing any definitive conclusions about the breeds involved in fatal dog attacks.
(2) This author has no bias towards any breed of dog. In contrast, one website (http://www.dogsbite.org/blog-dog-bite-statistics.htm) posting on-line fatal dog attack statistics obviously has extremely strong biases against pit bull type dogs, and therefore the accuracy of the information, and the obvious message this site is sending, should be challenged.
(3) The reader should note the incidences of fatalities listed on this site may not represent every case in the United States where death was caused by a dog attack. In the very least this site represents a near exhuastive listing, however. The reader who is familiar with this area should note that this site currently lists fatal attacks that are not listed elsewhere by other authors who are independently collecting and documenting similar kinds of information on fatal dog attacks in the United States. As noted above, the primary source for information about fatal attacks comes from news reports published on the Internet and made available through Google News by using selected keywords. The accuracy of the information listed on the site depends entirely on the accuracy of the news reporting, and as noted above this may become problematic when dealing with the breed of dog in question.
(4) Finally, only those fatalitities that are a direct result of a dog attack are listed. For example, not included in these statistics are dog fatalities where the primary cause of death is secondary to the attack (e.g. caradic arrest, freezing to death after falling unconscious following an attack, rabies, septicaemia, infection, falling on head as a result of being attacked), or when a fatality is caused by the behavior of a dog that does not involve attack (e.g. smothering). Click here for medical explanation of the causes of death as a direct result of a dog attack.
Prior Year Stats
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Summary Statistics (2004 - 2009)
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