Epidemiological characterization of bites: A retrospective study of dog bites to humans in Chile during 2009

Preventive healthcare among dogs and cats in Chile is positively associated with emotional owner-companion animal bond and socioeconomic factors

Global companion animal population has been increasing as well as the number of dogs and cats being considered as a family member. However, it is unclear whether this close relationship could be associated with higher preventive healthcare in companion animals. Using data from 7,048 questionnaires of dogs and 3,271 of cats from the First National Study on Responsible Companion Animal Ownership, we estimated the proportion of preventive healthcare in companion animals of Chile. We also conducted a general linear mixed-effect regression model to identify socioeconomic factors and indicators of the emotional owners-companion animal bond that could influence owners' practices related to vaccination, parasite control, and veterinary visits. Based on the owner's answers, Chile has a satisfactory overall rates of parasite control (71%) and annual veterinary visits (65%) but a low vaccination coverage of both dogs (39%) and cats (25%). 'Purebred', 'live in urban areas', 'acquired by monetary compensation', and 'dog species' were associated with a higher probability of preventive healthcare in companion animals. Conversely, this probability was lower among senior animals compared to adults, males, and those owned by the Silent Generation or Baby Boomers (i.e., owners born before 1964). 'Sleeping inside', 'acquired for an emotional reason' (e.g., companionship), and 'considered a family member' were positively associated with at least one of assessed preventive measures. Our findings suggest that emotional owner-companion animal bonds could positively impact the frequency and quality of preventive healthcare in dogs and cats. However, owners who totally disagreed that a companion animal is a "family member" were also associated with a higher likelihood of vaccination uptake and veterinary visits for their animals. This highlights that owner's compliance with veterinary preventive healthcare is multifactorial. Chile has a high prevalence of infectious diseases circulating among dogs and cats and increasingly close contacts between owners and companion animals due to emotional bonds. Thus, our study calls for One Health approaches to reduce the risks of cross-species disease transmission. Specifically, increasing vaccination coverage of companion animals in Chile is the most urgent preventive measure needed, especially among cats, males, and older animals. Expand preventive healthcare among dogs and cats will promote public and animal health, including local wildlife that is susceptible to infectious diseases circulating in companion animals.

Are children and dogs best friends? A scoping review to explore the positive and negative effects of child-dog interactions

Personal wellbeing is greatly influenced by our childhood and adolescence, and the relationships formed during those phases of our development. The human-dog bond represents a significant relationship that started thousands of years ago. There is a higher prevalence of dog ownership around the world, especially in households including children. This has resulted in a growing number of researchers studying our interactions with dogs and an expanding evidence base from the exploration of child-dog interactions. We review the potential effects of child-dog interactions on the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of both species. A search of the SCOPUS database identified documents published between January 1980 and April 2022. Filtering for key inclusion criteria, duplicate removals, and inspecting the references of these documents for additional sources, we reviewed a total of 393 documents, 88% of which were scientific articles. We were able to define the numerous ways in which children and dogs interact, be it neutral (e.g., sharing a common area), positive (e.g., petting), or negative (e.g., biting). Then, we found evidence for an association between childhood interaction with dogs and an array of benefits such as increased physical activities, a reduction of stress, and the development of empathy. Nonetheless, several detrimental outcomes have also been identified for both humans and dogs. Children are the most at-risk population regarding dog bites and dog-borne zoonoses, which may lead to injuries/illness, a subsequent fear of dogs, or even death. Moreover, pet bereavement is generally inevitable when living with a canine companion and should not be trivialized. With a canine focus, children sometimes take part in caretaking behaviors toward them, such as feeding or going for walks. These represent opportunities for dogs to relieve themselves outside, but also to exercise and socialize. By contrast, a lack of physical activity can lead to the onset of obesity in both dogs and children. Dogs may present greater levels of stress when in the presence of children. Finally, the welfare of assistance, therapy, and free-roaming dogs who may interact with children remains underexplored. Overall, it appears that the benefits of child-dog interactions outweigh the risks for children but not for dogs; determination of the effects on both species, positive as well as negative, still requires further development. We call for longitudinal studies and cross-cultural research in the future to better understand the impact of child-dog interactions. Our review is important for people in and outside of the scientific community, to pediatricians, veterinarians, and current or future dog owners seeking to extend their knowledge, and to inform future research of scientists studying dogs and human-animal interactions.

A Review and Analysis of the National Dog Population Management Program in Chile

Free-roaming dogs are a worldwide problem, with Chile having some of the highest human-to-dog ratios in the world. In 2017, Law 21.020 was promulgated and the federal government developed a national responsible pet ownership program. The objectives of this article are to describe and discuss the dog-related components of the program, to design a tool for determining human-to-dog ratios in Chile, and to make recommendations to managers to improve the program outcomes. The overarching goal of the program was to mitigate the conflict between humans and dogs, but many of the interventions were animal-focused and the indicators did not consider the perception of the Chilean public. Using human density data and known dog populations, we found that as the human density increased, there were fewer dogs per person. Veterinary services and sterilizations were the mainstay of the program and were offered for free to citizens. Education was offered to all ages through public events, as well as municipality and organization activities. The identification of dogs was obligatory for dog owners. Enforcement was not included in the program. The recommendations are to conduct preintervention baseline data collections and to tailor interventions and indicators appropriately; to use dog population size estimates determined at the local level rather than a country-wide estimate; to replace free veterinary services with low-cost sterilization campaigns; to create sustainable plans for education; and to create enforcement teams in communities.

Systematic Review: Comparison of the Main Variables of Interest in Publications of Canine Bite Accidents in the Written Press, Gray and Scientific Literature in Chile and Spain, between the Years 2013 and 2017

Simple Summary

Dog bites are a major public health problem throughout the world. The different types of information sources that exist in relation to this issue are influencing decision making to control and prevent these incidents. For this reason, the present study aims to compare the main variables of interest in the publications of dog bite accidents in the written and grey press and scientific literature in Chile and Spain, between 2013 and 2017. The results showed that sensationalist variables in dog bite articles are reported more frequently in the press literature compared to the indexed and grey literature. Examples of these variables are involvement of potentially dangerous breeds, articles with death reports, among others. In conclusion, an improvement in the quality of the information that reaches the population about dog bites could be achieved through better and more fluid communication between scientists and journalists who publish on this topic.

Abstract

Dog bites are a major public health problem, with consequences such as physical injury, psychological trauma, transmission of zoonoses, infections, and economic costs. For this reason, it is necessary to develop preventive programs, which require quality information to support the authorities’ decision-making and to raise public awareness about the application of the proposed measures. The objective of this review was to analyze the press, indexed and gray dog bite literature published during the 2013–2017 period. During that period, 385 articles from three sources of information were analyzed: Press literature, scientific literature, and gray literature. Of these, the greatest amount of information corresponding to the context and the aggressor animal was found in the press literature, where it was recorded that the greatest number of records reported in the Chilean articles were caused by potentially dangerous breeds (87.50%), having significant differences with the gray literature (p = 0.030), and in Spain, the greatest number of attacks was also made by potentially dangerous dogs 91.30% (21/23), statistically significant differences with the gray literature (p = 0.002) and with the indexed (p < 0.001). In the case of the scientific and gray literature, the greatest amount of information was found about the victim of the attack and the treatments applied to them. In these cases, the highest percentage of victims included in the reports contained both sexes for the two literatures (44.62% and 87.71%, respectively). Regarding the treatment applied, in the scientific literature in most of the reports, the patients received washings, rabies vaccine, and tetanus vaccine (46.26%) and presented significant differences in Chile with the information contained in the gray literature (p = 0.023), in Spain with the gray (p = 0.017) and with the press (p = 0.023). In conclusion, the press literature differs in multiple variables with the information reported in the scientific literature and, in some cases, with the gray literature. The reason why the material that is being distributed to the population would not coincide in multiple relevant variables in other literature and the representative reality of the problem is the basis for this topic.

Epidemiology of Dog Bite Incidents in Chile: Factors Related to the Patterns of Human-Dog Relationship

Dog bites are one of the main public health problems. They produce important consequences for those who suffer them (physical and psychological injuries, secondary infections, sequelae, risk of transmission of zoonoses and surgeries, among others). The objective of this study was to characterize epidemiologically the incidents of bites in Chile and the patterns of human-dog relationship involved. The records analyzed in this article were obtained from bitten patients who attended the main public health facilities in Chile during the period 17 September 2017 and 17 September 2018: In the period studied, 17,299 animal bites were recorded; however, only 7220 (41.74%) cases were analyzed in which the offending species could be identified. Of the bites analyzed, 6533 were caused by dogs (90.48%). Of these, 41.05% were caused by medium-sized dogs. Most bites were caused by dogs of mixed breeds (55.99%), followed by dogs of the German Shepherd breed (8.50%). Most of the dogs that bit were known to the victim (99.95%) and most of the attacks occurred indoors (57.48%). Although dog bite records have improved in Chile, it would be useful to also include background information on the context in which the incident occurred, which would be very useful for developing effective bite prevention programs.