[link|http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dogbreeds.pdf|CDC] (5 page .pdf):

[p. 2 of the .pdf] Fatalities during 1997 and 1998 \ufffd During 1997 and 1998, at least 27 people died as the result of dog bite attacks (18 people in 1997 and 9 in 1998). Of 27 human DBRF, 19 (70%) were children (1 was ≤ 30 days old, 3 were between 7 and 11 months old, 9 were between 1 and 4 years old, and 6 were between 5 and 11 years old), and 8 were adults (ages 17, 44, 64, 70, 73, 75, 75, and 87). Approximately half (n = 15 [56%]) of the human DBRF were male.

Five (19%) deaths involved unrestrained dogs off the owners\ufffd property, 18 (67%) involved unrestrained dogs on the owners\ufffd property, 3 (11%) involved restrained dogs on the owners\ufffd property, and 1 (4%) involved a restrained dog off the owner\ufffds property. Eighteen (67%) deaths involved 1 dog, 5 (19%) involved 2 dogs, and 4 (15%) involved 3 dogs. Sixty
percent of attacks by unrestrained dogs off the owners\ufffd
property involved more than 1 dog.

Fatal attacks were reported from 17 states (California [4 deaths]; Georgia and North Carolina [3 each]; Kansas, Texas, and Wisconsin [2 each]; and Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, South Dakota, and Tennessee [1 each]).

Some breed information was reported for all 27 attacks. As in recent years, Rottweilers were the most commonly reported breed involved in fatal attacks, followed by pit bull-type dogs (Table 1). Together, these 2 breeds were involved in approximately 60% of human deaths.


Rotweilers and pit bulls are very strong dogs. If they're also aggressive, they can be dangerous. An aggressive terrier isn't much of a threat, but there is a report of a death caused by a cocker spaniel between 1979 and 1998 (table 2). That same table lists 1 death caused by a pure-bred Lab, and 4 by Lab mixes in that time period. There were 76 pit bull (pure or mixed) and 44 Rotweiler (pure or mixed) dogs involved in deaths in that same time period.

Note that (in the quote above covering 1997-1998) 86% of the deaths were caused by unrestrained dogs. Leashes and proper fencing would minimize much of the problem. There would, of course, be terrible cases like Ashton cited and [link|http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/Whipple.html|Diane Whipple's death in San Francisco].

It's a risk management problem - one that can have fatal consequences. But we're only talking about [link|http://www.dogexpert.com/FatalDogAttacks/fataldogattacks.html|20 reported fatalities in the US 2004]. While many many more are injured or traumatized, the problem seems to be much less widespread than one would think from the press reports.

Cheers,
Scott.