Factors associated with fatal dog attacks

Factors Associated with Fatal Dog Attacks


Circumstances	Dogs who are chained; dogs who escape through a broken fence on the owner's property; a child who wonders into the territory of a dog; a group of dogs either running loose in an urban or rural setting, or on rare occasions in a household setting.
Dog's past behavior	Prior documented displays of aggression directed towards people in the majority of cases.
Owner present?	Owner / keeper of dog usually never in presence of dog when fatal attack happens. One notable exception is the San Francisco dog mauling in which the owner of the dog was present but could not stop the attack.
Size of dog	Medium to large size dogs usually involved; however, small dogs such as pomeranians have killed people.
Breed of dog	Over 30 different breeds have inflicted fatal injuries to humans although in the last 10 years Pit bulls and Rottweilers have been disproportionally represented.
Sex and reproductive status	Frequently an adult male dog who has not been neutered.
Victim	Usually a relatively defenseless person such as child or an elderly person.

Based on the above, a high risk situation exists for a fatality to happen to a child or an elderly person when, for example, a pair of reproductively intact adult male Rottweilers, who have previously displayed aggression towards people near their territory, escape from the property where they are being kept through a broken fence or open gate or door. This exact situation was recently played out in California in the case of People vs. Schneider.

Another well-qualified dog bite expert offers a more simplistic but nevertheless valid perspective: "Fatal attacks include a combination of the wrong dog in the wrong hands in the wrong circumstances". A case in point is the recent report of three fatal attacks by family dogs towards infants left alone, unsupervised, in mobile swings (J. Forensic Sciences, 2006, 51, p 403).

The reader should visit Dr. Polsky's web site Dog Bite Prevention for measures to take to avoid fatal attacks and dog bites in general.