|
Abstract
|
Last year saw a sudden jump in the number of people in England and Wales dying because of dog bite injuries. While a typical year records three fatal attacks,1 the death toll in 2022 totalled 10.234 Four of the victims were children.
Hospital episode data for England5 also reveal an upward trend in the number of attendances for dog related injuries in the past 15 years. There has been an 88% increase in attendances, from 4699 in 2007 to 8819 in 2021-22. Growing concern about dog related attacks have prompted media reports across the UK.67
Behind these statistics lie sizable welfare costs, both in the toll of psychological and physical injury to human victims and their families--including life changing disfigurement--and also in terms of the animal welfare burden. Many of the dogs involved in attacks are subsequently euthanised.
There are also financial costs to the NHS. Researchers at the University of Liverpool with Public Health England recently estimated the total cost of dog attacks to the NHS, using hospital attendance and admissions data in England.8 Publishing their findings in Scientific Reports last year, they estimated direct costs of treatment to be more than £25m for the financial year 2017-18. Estimates for total costs of hospital attendance and admissions amounted to more than £70m for the same period.
The research also revealed demographic and regional variations in dog bite incidence, as well as typical presentation and management (see box 1). The figures show that rates in children have remained stable and the rise in dog bites is in the adult population: incidence …
Language: en |